[4] Del Rey and the Weeknd performed the song live together for the first time on December 9, 2015, at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
"[6] In his review of the album, Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan described the song as "a summit of luxuriant sadness" and "quite the slow-burning pity party".
[7] Chris DeVille of Stereogum called "Prisoner" "the most intriguing part" of Beauty Behind the Madness, and said the song "feels like an old Weeknd mixtape track, but with touches of Del Rey’s doomed noir glamor".
[8] Vulture's Dee Lockett wrote, "Lana, the tortured lover, and the Weeknd, the addict, sound exactly as you’d expect on this bombastic morbid-pop-meets-lusty-R&B ballad.
They croon about their respective sorrows: Lana wonders if Hollywood has poisoned her, while the Weeknd comes to grips with falling in love.