Hated the father

You can say that in hindsight. Let's not forget that this is a movie where characters wear "plot armour. What if he didn't find her?

Also, I'd like to point out that he didn't find her through the torture. One of the girls escaped on her own and she gave a hint "you were there, too". She could have said the same to the cop. So, yes, technically he found her/the location but it was due to luck and definately not due to his torture.

so basically you are saying, that the torture wasn't necessary. Because Joy did excape because Holly felt lonely and took the girls into the house.

Keller was already convinced, even before Alex said anything. And he wasn't knowingly in on the kidnapping. He himself was kidnapped, drugged and abused for a long time and living in his own world, he doesn't even get what is happening.

Torture is NEVER justifiable or forgiveable.
I would hope you teach that basic moral to your children.

I absolutely loved this film, but the sadistic Keller was a sinister character. Are you meant to like him? Or root for him? I would say NO. But it's not for me to decide.

Do I need to produce children to have a valid opinion on the morality of torture?
Absolutely not.

So if my child was kidnapped and you happened to leave the area and then later said something that I took the wrong way, you would be a-okay for me to kidnap and torture you to potential death? Because that's all I would be working on and it was all Keller was working on.

To Keller's eyes the police wasn't doing their job, I mean they just release the main suspect and then he goes and said "They only cried when I left them". Why would an innocent person say that? Nevermind his mental illness. He knew and did something.

--?---------------------

Yes, he knew. I think those words were meant to comfort Keller, that the girls weren't in distress. I think he then shut down and couldn't say any more out of sheer terror. If you'll remember, the kidnapper woman told Keller that Alex used to talk up a storm before his accident, but then he got more selective with words. I think we are to understand in hindsight that she and her husband caused the accident after Alex talked too much for their comfort, and ensured he would never do it again for fear of another accident. I think Alex is a victim through and through, and will never recover from this new torture. Nightmares nightly for the rest of his life.

It's a brilliant film, one that brings up the question of how far can we justify ourselves going in order to protect our own family.

Well-thought out observations!

Also, Keller saw Alex singing the kids song that the girls sang ... then saw him torture his dog. How does one who already has budding suspicions react to that?


Actually, if one goes back to the interview with Alex's real mother, she did say that he was last seen playing near an RV that was often parked nearby when he disappeared as a little boy. It was the faux-parents/murderers who were in that RV ( an admission by the old woman that during summers they would drive in an RV of sorts which she told Keller during his first visit).

This is a very convoluted thriller -- but to me what stood out is how emotionally the principal characters were dealing with the situation.

*Keller was emotionally overwrought and seemed to be driven to do anything to find his daughter. He was always someone who wanted to be in control everytime (e.g., his survivalist basement) and when something happened that was beyond his control, he reacted in the primordial way that a man like him would react. Not saying that most men would resort to torture, but it was easy to understand why he would behave like that. If you were the daughter, when you grow up and find out what he tried to do for you -- how would you react ?


*Loki was supposed to be the cool detective, but perhaps he needed to have a deeper understanding of human nature ( like anticipating that an overwrought father of a kidnapped child might react in the most violent way if he is not seeing any indications that his child could be found...and alive). He seemed to have also reacted too negatively to the man who had actually been kidnapped by the couple years ago, too. Maybe he could have recognized the mental issues early on...and maybe that suicide would have been prevented? He probably could have put two and two together much faster had he paid more attention to the clues ( e.g., why had a priest been driven to kill someone if that someone had not been truly evil?, the clue of the RV mentioned by the real mother of Alex in their first interview, what Keller told him about Alex's statement about "seeing them happy when he left them", etc.)... At the end, I think Loki seemed to have become more chastened...and maybe if and when he found Keller underground, he might even explain the mitigating circumstances if ever there is a trial for assault and battery.


*The old woman was a real murderous mental case, maybe even more so than the dead husband. She continued on her kidnapping and killing rampage even after her hushand disappeared. She even intimidated Alex into supporting her statements to he police. She was just a cold-blooded killer driven with an undying rage against fate! Maybe Loki and his police department could have launched a wider search on her background? What happened to the husband? How did she support herself? Have other kids in the area been kidnapped before Anna and Joy disappeared? Where did the Old Woman and Alex lived during those times?


*The neighbors ( Terence Howard and Viola Davis characters) were also emotionally distraught by what happened to their daughter Joy. Did Loki also investigate them as thoroughly as he did Keller? In their place, would you have sanctioned what Keller did or would you have reported him to the police? Who knows what else they would have done if Joy had not turned up early?


I think this is not a straightforward thriller. It cannot also expect to have unanimity in the emotional reaction of the audience to how the parents were reacting to the situation. It is really more of a psychological thriller and makes the audience emotionally invested in the story and the characters.