Prisoners

Essay by jessicafalconeCollege, UndergraduateA, October 2014

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Prisoners is a 2013 thriller following the police search and the families of two young girls who

were abducted in Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving Day. The movie depicts four parents dealing with this

tragedy each in a unique way. It stars Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover, a distressed father looking for

answers, and Maria Bello as Grace Dover, a mother with no answers. They are a traditional American

family; Keller founded 'Keller Dover Remodeling and Repairs,' his own business, and Grace is a

full­time mom.

Seeing that Grace is a stay­at­home­mom, after losing her seven­year­old daughter, it is

assumable that she lost her purpose. Although Grace was not essential to the plot, her character was

written incredibly and represents a reasonable response to a devastating event. Grace is usually seen in

bed at any hour of the day. She is seen in her pajamas in every scene following the abduction. Grace

appears to be on multiple medications, seeing that pill bottles surround her bed. The length of time she

has been on medication is unknown. Although Grace believed she heard her daughter in her bedroom, it

was obvious that she lost hope early in the search. When Detective Loki (Jake Gylenhaal) asked both

sets of parents to help identify clothing, Grace did not contribute. This is an obvious sign that Grace was

suffering with depression.

Research done in Denmark reports losing a child increases the risk of mental illness among

mothers than fathers, with the risk of death in mothers increasing in the first year following. It is possible

that Grace was not only suffering with depressions, but also suicidal thoughts.

As a therapist, if Grace visited my practice during this time, a closed ended question that would

be appropriate is, "do you mind if we talk about your daughter's abduction?"...