This has been one of the lousiest summers of hyped blockbusters in recent years, and I’ve been waiting patient ly for Hollywood to provide just one film worth seeing. Prisoners is that film.

Spellbinding from start to finish, this is the best thriller since Christopher Nolan’s Memento in 2000.

The story opens on a cold Thanksgiving Day as the families of Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and Frank lin Birch (Terrence How ard) gather to celebrate the holiday together. However, this peaceful setting is inter rupted when the youngest daughters from each family go missing.

The likeliest suspect behind their abduction is the myste rious and reclusive neighbor Alex Jones (Paul Dano), who appears to have been inside his recreational vehicle when the girls went missing. How ever, police are unable to find any substantial evidence to link him to the crime.

But the lack of proof doesn’t keep Dover from pursuing this man and anyone else potentially responsible.

As Dover finds himself on the verge of madness in a desperate attempt to find his daughter, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) attempts to unravel the case before time runs out for the help less young girls.

The premise of this film has been done before. Law Abiding Citizen, A Time to Kill and Taken are prime examples of films with pro tagonists who take matters into their own hands when the law isn’t sufficient.

Yet what separates Prison ers from other crime dramas and thrillers is the manner in which it delivers the perfect amount of both suspense and character development. Not only do viewers get to see Dover undergo a radical transformation during the course of the film, but they also witness countless twists and turns that the script de livers brilliantly.

French-Canadian film maker Denis Vi l leneuve makes his United States de but with this movie, but his previous directing credits in cluding Incendies and Mael strom, and his innate artistic ability and keen eye for detail show in this film. Perhaps his experience in the world of foreign filmmaking allowed him to bring something fresh to a well-established genre and to defy conventions of the Hollywood style.

Both the exquisite cinema tography by Roger Deakins, who recently received an Os car nomination for Skyfall and the chilling soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson cor relate beautifully with the gritty tone of this film. Even with a 2 1/2 hour running time, Villeneuve and the crew do a remarkable job of maintaining a high-level of intensity throughout.

Jackman delivers what is perhaps the best perfor mance of his career. Going from a good family man to a tormented father who’s will ing to do anything to get his daughter back, his embodi ment of the character makes viewers believe every moment that he’s on screen.

His physicality is especially dynamic, and he does a seam less job reflecting the emer gence of his inner demons.

Jake Gyllenhaal also does a superb job as the conflicted detective struggling to solve the case, while also having to keep a close eye on Dover. As Dover ventures further into the gray area of morality his actions come to impact every one around him.

Yet as good as the acting and technical components of this film are, the real highlight is the mesmer izing screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski. With his only other previous writing cred it being the 2012 action flick Contraband, his work here is remarkably innovative as it exhibits a wealth of origi nality through its execution. Rarely is a thriller that’s pre sented in a linear fashion able to keep audiences guessing the entire time.

While most films within this genre are blatantly pre dictable, Prisoners resembles a puzzle in which all the piec es don’t come together until the mouth-dropping conclu sion.

Between The Lone Ranger, The Hangover: Part III and countless other Hollywood disasters, this has been a pret ty terrible year for movies. Yet despite the cliché atroci ties that have been released during the past few months, Prisoners is a well-crafted and thoroughly entertaining film geared toward movie goers who value high quality storytelling and high quality filmmaking.