[4] At the beginning of October, after being spotted shooting a video together in New York City, rumblings that Cyrus and Lipa were working on a secret project got even bigger.

[5] In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena 100 on October 13, 2020, Cyrus stated that due to her and Lipa's fans "begging" for their collaboration to be released, they "[could] expect something pretty soon".

"[12] Ali Shutler of NME gave the song five out of five stars, calling it "a disco-punk anthem that goes off like a cherry bomb", stating that it "hit[s] the sour-sweet spot between grit and glam" and described Lipa as "the perfect partner in crime for [Cyrus], as they take the basement snarl of punk and give it some '80s disco swagger".

Shutler also remarked that "the track gives [Lipa]'s excitably shiny Future Nostalgia space to shine without forcing [Cyrus] out of the spotlight", further praising the artists for "elevat[ing] each other rather than competing" and added: "If only every collaboration had this balance.

[27] Erica Gonzalez from Harper's Bazaar praised "Prisoner" calling it a "killer collaboration" and saying "the song itself also evokes a gritty, vintage feel".

[28] Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone wrote that the track "perfectly splits the difference between Dua Lipa's neo-disco-pop and the late-Seventies/early-Eighties rock vibe that's defined Cyrus' Plastic Hearts era".

[31] Dan DeLuca of The Philadelphia Inquirer brought up "Prisoner" with its eight credited writers as an example for how Plastic Hearts "suffers from ordinary, by-committee songwriting".

opined that Cyrus's confidence is "overshadowed by large-scale dance numbers", "Prisoner" and "Gimme What I Want", and added: "Longtime fans might appreciate these contributions, but, for most people, there's nothing here that's not already overplayed on the radio.

"[34] Variety's A. D. Amorosi felt that "Prisoner" was lacking in originality and catchiness, calling it "a surprise, spun-synth-sugar mess, with Cyrus' voice neutered by AutoTune and Lipa's listless vocal lines blurred in its mix.

[40] On November 18, 2020, Cyrus teased the music video release on her social media with a 20-second clip where the two artists are seen, covered in blood, partying it up and eating cherries.

[41] On November 19, the next day, the video premiered on YouTube alongside the song's release and it was described by Liam Hess of Vogue as "packed with grunge-inspired fashion and enough black eyeliner to make [Joan] Jett herself jealous".

[5][41] The road trip-inspired video begins with Cyrus' mouth singing the first verses of the song with a visual reference to the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Subsequently, the video portrays the duo arriving at a dive bar and delivering a riotous show with Lipa giving the audience the middle finger while wearing an ultra-rare 1990s Gucci cut-out dress designed by Tom Ford.

[42] The video ends with an extraction of John Waters' film Female Trouble, in which Divine's character Dawn Davenport says, "I'm a free woman now and my life is ready to begin".

[43] After calling it "truly outrageous" and "blood-splattered", Lindsay Zoladz of The New York Times drew parallels between the video and two classic films: "Rock of Love: Thelma & Louise?

[19] Sydney Bucksbaum of Entertainment Weekly described the video as "a sexy, bloody road trip"[42] and Eli Enis of Consequence stated that "the two stars exude a natural chemistry".

"[25] Mehera Bonner of Cosmopolitan pointed the final scene with a message to Cyrus' and Lipa's exes as the standout moment of the video, calling it "iconique".

[44] Wonderland magazine called it "already iconic", "a trip itself" and noticed its "references to Jennifer's Body, The Runaways and even The Rocky Horror Picture Show, we're also getting mad Thelma & Louise vibes, just without any death defying cliff jumps (as of yet).

[28] Cyrus performed "Prisoner" first time without Lipa on the first episode of the Amazon Music Holiday Plays digital concert series on December 1.

[50] Cyrus again performed "Prisoner" along with "Golden G String" and a cover of "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star on Tiny Desk Concert hosted by NPR Music on January 28, 2021.