Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain was released when I was in high school, and a memory that I closely associate with it is my friend’s obsession with Jake Gyllenhaal after this film. Brokeback Mountain also caused a lot of controversy during its release, with its culmination losing the Best Picture race after being a strong frontrunner during the Oscar season. This film tells the harrowing tale between two people who developed feelings for each other over the course of summer, and the lives the led afterwards.

Prisoners

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis
Director:  Denis Villeneuve

I made a mistake of watching Prisoners alone. All I knew was it was supposed to be a crime thriller, but I didn’t expect to watch what I saw. I thought it was going to be similar to those kinds of movies Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal typical appear in. It wasn’t. It was a rather gritty, and had a very dark tone throughout, cutting out every inch of hope that we usually look for in depressing movies. Still, it’s one of those movies where it wasn’t drowned by the names of the people involved, rather it makes the crime stand out, and the desire to solve the puzzle unite the movie into one piece.