Prisoners, the 2013 suspense thriller starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, involves a familiar, crime-driven premise, which leaves viewers wondering if the movie is based on a true story. Prisoners is about the kidnapping of two young children and the desperate measures that one father takes in order to find them. The movie was a commercial and critical success and was nominated for several awards, specifically for its editing and cinematography, which paints a moody atmosphere reminiscent of many true-crime films.
The catalyzing event of Prisoners, which was directed by Denis Villeneuve, also bears resemblance to famous abduction cases, such as the tragic story of Adam Walsh. Additionally, the arc of Detective Loki's search for the missing victims is reminiscent of the processes that take place during kidnapping investigations. And the grounded nature of all characters involved in the movie lends to its strikingly realistic portrayal of everyone who gets caught up in the aftermath of a horrific crime such as child abduction. So, there is good reason to assume that Prisoners is based on another one of these unfortunate true stories of child kidnappings.
Prisoners Is Based On Aaron Guzikowski's Short Story, Not A True Story
Screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski wrote the original short story that inspired the movie Prisoners in 2007. It did not take long for the rights to the story to be purchased, but his script spent several years stuck in development hell before Denis Villeneuve eventually signed on to direct the adaptation. Guzikowski told Film School Rejects that the short story was about "a father whose kid was struck by a hit-and-run driver and then puts this guy in a well in his backyard." The premise was altered for the movie, which instead sees a suspected kidnapper imprisoned by the father of one of the missing children.
In spite of the fictional nature of Guzikowski's story, it'd still be possible for Prisoners to be inspired by real-life criminals or cases. However, Guzikowski (who later created the sci-fi show Raised by Wolves) dismissed this idea during an interview with the Los Angeles Times: "I wasn't inspired by anything in the news, and then as I wrote it, I'd hear about these cases, and it seemed oddly reminiscent of what I was doing." There is some truth to this statement as over the years there have been a number of high-profile kidnapping cases in the United States where children were abducted by total strangers, just like in the movie.
How Edgar Allan Poe Inspired Prisoners
In addition to being based on a short story written by Aaron Guzikowski, Prisoners was also inspired by another, more famous short story. Specifically, it was loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," which is told from the point of view of a man who murders his roommate. After killing the victim, the narrator dis the body and buries the remains under the floorboards of his home. This is similar to how the kidnappers in Prisoners hide the children in an underground pit in their yard.
The Tell-Tale Heart narrator is interrogated by officers at his home and becomes increasingly nervous, believing he can hear the heart of his victim beating louder and louder through the floorboards. Eventually, he breaks down and confesses. There's a similar moment at the end of Prisoners. Hugh Jackman's character is locked in a pit after confronting the antagonist. Police arrive and excavate most of the property, but believing their work to be done, they leave for the night. Jake Gyllenhaal's detective stays behind, though, as he hears a whistling noise coming from the pit that gets increasingly louder before the movie cuts to black.
