Genre research: Prisoners

What elements of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have? In this movie when the plot thickens, it did a great job of keeping the audience at the edge of their seats. In my final task, I will try to make my audience get this same feeling of anxiousness. I achieve for them to wonder what will happen next. Also, the movie is immersive in the sense of making the audience feel angry at the characters. If the events happening in the movie doesn't go ideally, the audience will possibly be frustrated. However, they continue to watch in hopes that this outcome can change. In my final task, I want my audience to have that emotional connection to the film whether their reaction is anger or sympathy.  

What elements of the genre did the movie have that you like? This movie has a kidnapping which is a common element for a crime thriller film. There is a plot twist when the threat is revealed so the audience gets a taste of amazement or satisfaction if they guessed the perpetrator accurately. In this movie, there's a scene where one of the characters is rushing to the hospital; it's a matter of life or death. The movie could go any direction with this and all I was thinking was, "what if he doesn't make it." This use of anticipation and excitement is common in thriller films and it was portrayed perfectly in that scene. Another good element the movie used was showing the story from different perspectives. Finally, the movie ends in a cliffhanger, having the viewer wondering if the ending was unfortunate or triumphal.  

What elements of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you? The storyline is so complex and detailed that the movie felt extremely long. The movie took a while for it to have those iconic nail-biting moments because it focused on building the plot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it isn't ideal because it could lose the viewers' attention causing them to be bored.