Prisoners

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The second runner-up for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival’s top audience prize — behind 12 Years a Slave and Philomena — Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners captivates thanks to a thrilling premise involving two sets of parents (Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello and Terrence Howard and Viola Davis) searching for their missing children with assistance from a harrowed yet focused detective (Jake Gyllenhaal channeling a bit of the heart-pounding desperation from Zodiac). As if the film needed any more dramatic power, the supporting cast includes Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (Supporting Actress for The Fighter) and the always intriguing Paul Dano. Opens wide Sept. 20. (R) Not screened in time for review