Why Jake Gyllenhaal Twitches In Prisoners

Detective Loki’s twitching is one of the most iconic parts of Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance in Prisoners, and the actor has explained why he does it.

Jake Gyllenhaal gives a critically acclaimed performance in Denis Villeneuve’s 2013 movie Prisoners, and one of the strangest quirks of his character is his constant twitching. In the film, Gyllenhaal plays Detective Loki, an officer investigating the abduction of two kids in Pennsylvania. While Gyllenhaal’s character twitches throughout Prisoners the film doesn’t offer a direct explanation, however Jake Gyllenhaal has given an answer.

Prisoners follows Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and Franklin Burch (Terrence Howard), two suburban family men who attempt to track down their daughters’ kidnapper after they disappear on Thanksgiving. Prisoners is a psychological thriller movie that explores just how far the main characters will go in order to find the girls, with the film taking Keller Dover and Detective Loki to some pretty tense and extreme places. Detective Loki’s twitching is one of the character’s signature traits in Prisoners, with Jake Gyllenhaal using this to add an extra layer to the character.

Related: Every Paul Dano Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Jake Gyllenhaal Twitches In Prisoners To Show Loki Is Overloaded

According to IndieWire, Jake Gyllenhaal explained why Detective Loki twitches in Prisoners, saying explaining:

Throughout Prisoners, Detective Loki is put under incredible pressure, investigating multiple murders and kidnappings by the end of Prisoners. On top of that, Loki also has to deal with pressure from Keller Dover, who believes that the police aren’t doing enough to find his daughter, causing even more stress for Loki. Throughout the investigation, Detective Loki is barely keeping himself together, and Jake Gyllenhaal’s twitching is the perfect way to subtly show how overloaded his character is.

Why Jake Gyllenhaal’s Performance In Prisoners In So Good

The performances in Prisoners are often considered one of the best parts of the film, with Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as Detective Loki often being considered one of the Oscars’ biggest snubs. Unlike Hugh Jackman’s character, who is loud, angry, and unhinged, Detective Loki deals with the same amount of stress but manages to keep a calm and collected demeanor. Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance is made better by the other actors around him, allowing the audience to see the different ways the two main characters go about finding the kidnapper without explicitly stating it.

Although Detective Loki acts a lot calmer than Keller, that doesn’t mean he actually is. Loki’s twitching is just one of the ways that Gyllenhaal lets the audience know that he is starting to crack under pressure, just barely keeping his cool throughout the film’s incredibly stressful events. Prisoners is one of the most stressful movies of the 2010s, and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as Detective Loki is key to selling the tension.

Next: Every Denis Villeneuve Movie Ranked From Worst To Best