The final sequence of Prisoners has one of the boldest endings among Denis Villeneuve's impressive body of work, and its conclusion is crucial to the payoff of the film's gritty and intricate narrative. The detective-thriller follows Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) on the search for two girls after they disappear from a Thanksgiving dinner. Prisoners takes an incredibly dark turn when Keller takes charge of the situation, torturing the suspected kidnapper, Alex Jones (Paul Dano) ahead of the film's exceptional climax.

Prisoners' cryptic ending intentionally leaves the film open, but the uncertain outcome of Keller's fate was not the only version considered. It's important to note that Villeneuve originally filmed two different endings for Prisoners before he settled on the ambiguous conclusion. The story highlights the painstaking lengths people will go to for their loved ones and does not shy away from delving into the intense psychological trauma of its characters. These dark themes, and the pushing nature of the leads, prove indefinitely that the Prisoners' alternate ending was not right for the film. Instead, the conclusive finale reinstates the dark message of Prisoners.

Prisoners' Open Ending Was A Bold Way To Wrap Up The Movie

Keller Dover's Fate Remains Unknown

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Prisoners is how every moment in the two-and-a-half-hour runtime is crucial to the journey of its central characters. Villeneuve expertly makes use of every interaction to ensure he answers all the forthcoming mysteries, meaning that leaving Keller's fate open was an extremely bold way to wrap up the final moments of Prisoners. After discovering Holly (Melissa Leo) is the kidnapper, Keller confronts her before she injures his leg and immediately forces him into an underground pit. The final scene sees Detective Loki scouting the property and hearing Keller's distinctive whistle before Prisoners abruptly cuts to the credits.

It must be said that the audience becomes easily embroiled in the mystery of Anna and her friend's disappearance on of Villeneuve's superbly detailed visual style and dark method of storytelling. Therefore, ending the movie with such an uncertain outcome for its main protagonists could quite easily run the risk of exasperating Prisoners' audience. Screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski spoke out (via Buzzfeed) in a testament to how bold the script was, saying, "I was very surprised that we were allowed to keep that ending. I was surprised I was able to get the movie made, actually. It's a pretty dark script. Especially ending the way it does."

A More Traditional Ending Would Have Hurt Villeneuve's Prisoners

A Well-Rounded Ending Would Have Destroyed Denis Villeneuve's Vision

Prisoners thrives with an incredibly vague ending because of its main 'show, don't tell' concept undertaken throughout the majority of the film, meaning a definitive ending would've undermined many of the themes that Prisoners worked so hard to establish. There are many twists and turns throughout Prisoners as it explores multiple difficulties and many heavy subject matters. Loki finding Keller at the end would have been a conclusively happy ending to the story and ultimately would've felt a lot more out of place amid the acts of moral turpitude.

In the version that has a more traditional ending, Detective Loki locates Keller's whereabouts in the underground bunker.

Guzikowski that Prisoners' alternate ending was recorded primarily to appease studio executives, should they have rejected the original vision of Denis Villeneuve's movie. In the version that has a more traditional ending, Detective Loki locates Keller's whereabouts in the underground bunker. However, all creative parties involved in Prisoners agreed that the darker ending better served the movie, and the film was much better for it.

Source: Buzzfeed