After four years in prison, on the anniversary of his young son's death, Jack (Lynch) finds out that his wife is leaving him. Meanwhile, new young inmate Paul (Compston) is quickly taken under the wing of tough-guy Clay (Parkinson). Seeing this, Jack and his friend Ahmed (Malik) start to worry about Paul's safety. Sure enough, things turn violent, so Jack arranges to help Paul cope with the situation and becomes his mentor-protector. But there are more tensions brewing between various factions of inmates, and clearly things are going to get much worse.

The film's quiet internalised tone is involving, Although the gentle photography and editing make it feel a bit simplistic, mainly because it's shot primarily in close-up, like a TV show complete with a moody score that punctuates every emotion. And the dialog is written to deliberately obscure certain plot points until writer-director Viveiros is ready to reveal them. This makes the movie feel rather obvious and preachy, like Viveiros is trying to provoke a reaction from us rather than letting the story play out honestly.

Fortunately the level of acting is especially strong, making the characters intriguing enough to draw us into the situation. They also make the inter-relationships deeply interesting, hinting at all kinds of connections and tensions that aren't really in the script. The premise itself is very strong, and as it continues, we want to know more about the characters and the shifting connections between them. Even if the plotting feels both contrived and undercooked, it's consistently engaging.

The title refers to prison-speak for an inmate who disappears, so we're pretty sure this isn't going to end happily. Especially when sentimental home-movie flashbacks are stirred into the mix. Plus guards who are either shady (Schofield) or ineffectual (Abbington). And sure enough, as we finally hear the details of Jack's and Paul's stories, the climax plays out with weighty doses of horror and irony that are just a bit too much.

themes, language, violence

16.May.11