Director Denis Villeneuve filmed an alternative ending for the thriller "Prisoners," but it would have undermined the film's core identity. The original ending of "Prisoners" is intentionally ambiguous, fitting the movie's themes, while the alternate ending would have provided clear-cut answers. The alternate ending would have changed the tone of the movie, destroying its bleak and powerful impact and lessening its overall effectiveness.

Director Denis Villeneuve filmed two endings for his 2013 thriller Prisoners—however, the Prisoners alternate ending would have undermined the film's core identity. After Keller Dover's (Hugh Jackman) daughter and her friend disappear in a small Pennsylvania town, the two investigate their whereabouts, each by their own means. Dover takes matters into his own hands by abducting a local unstable man, Alex Jones (Paul Dano). In Prisoners' original ending, Dover finds his daughter and the real kidnapper, but while it leaves his own fate ambiguous, the Prisoners alternate ending tells a different story.