Pain and sadness. Danger and Violence. Tragedy, regret, and the loss of one’s identity. Such is the recipe for the prison film. Such a well-traveled subject has been the focus of a lot of good ones, and a few great ones. The Australian drama, Inside, is one of the great ones.
Inside Review
Since the silent film era, hundreds of prison movies have been produced, with nearly every genre (drama, comedy, action, thriller, inspirational, horror) covered to the nth degree. Robert Bresson’s 1956 morality piece, A Man Escaped, Jules Dassin’s 1947 classic, Brute Force, and Stuart Rosenberg’s Cool Hand Luke from 1967 are probably the best. Franklin Schaffner’s 1973 adaptation of Henri Charrière’s Papillon, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, is great. The same can be said for Jacques Baker’s Le Trou (1960), Robert Aldrich’s prison-football classic The Longest Yard (1974), John Frankenheimer’s The Birdman of Alcatraz (1963), Sidney Lummet’s The Hill (1965), and Don Siegel’s suspenseful 1979 Clint Eastwood thriller, Escape From Alcatraz.
These films brought something unique to their familiar cinematic settings. The continuing problem is, with so many in existence, it has become nearly impossible to make a prison picture that stands out. Frank Darabondt’s The Shawshank Redemption has found its fans, but (save for the excellent performances), the film is a saccharine hodgepodge of tired dramatic formulas and preposterous tugs at audiences’ tear ducts.
The real stunner came in 2023 with Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, a powerfully moving drama that should have earned Coleman Domingo the Oscar for Best Actor. That film was a sincere look at the humanity that defines one’s soul. Charles William’s feature-length directorial debut, Inside, is that film’s spiritual equal, focusing on a trio of incarcerated men who find themselves thrust into one another’s lives. Through unexpected truths, the three men’s collective fates become one.
A devastatingly profound Guy Pearce is Warren, a man coming close to his parole. Freedom is close, but he must figure out how to pay off his large gambling debt to another incarcerated individual who is already threatening a violent consequence.
Pearce gives the performance of the film. The actor disappears into a man whose self-affirmations have become stronger and one who has made it through a lengthy prison sentence fairly unscathed. Gambling issues notwithstanding, Warren keeps his head down and his emotions to himself. The hard shell was created for survival and it has served him well. Warren is a broken soul who has spent his time reflecting and doing what it takes to both survive his sentence and move towards freedom. There is no deception in Pearce’s work and it could be the finest of his career.
Warren hears of a contract put on Mark Shepard (Cosmo Jarvis), a notorious (and reviled) criminal who has become the prison’s makeshift preacher. Shepard delivers odd sermons to a small congregation of inmates who mock his bizarre way of seeing the world. The ambiguity of these moments works to keep audiences on edge. Viewers aren’t sure if the mocking is just the way of men in such a predicament, or if something darker is building due to the severity of Shepard’s crimes.
Warren is offered the chance to clear his debts by accepting and executing the contract on Shepard. So close to his freedom, Warren has no desire to upend his chances of parole. When teenage Mel (Vincent Miller) comes to the prison, he is housed with Shepard. Hoping to manipulate Mel’s assumed “new meat” persona, Warren plans to have the young man do the killing. Through a series of events, Mel is moved to Warren’s cell. After a time, manipulation turns to respect and (perhaps) the old timer begins to care for Mel, a man still young enough to change his life.
Cosmo Jarvis continues to prove himself one of his generation’s most adventurous actors. At only 37 years old, Jarvis has created a fascinating array of characters and performances; each one more challenging than the next. His willingness to disappear into a character with a Brando-like dedication draws deserved comparison to the skills of his modern contemporary, Tom Hardy. As Mark Shepard, the actor reaches an intensity and truth that few of today’s performers can muster. There is a danger to the character that finds symmetry with his humanity and deep sense of regret. The film doesn’t explain his (or Warren’s or Mel’s) crimes outright. In a clever design, we learn through news clips and conversations that hint to the cause of their incarcerations. Jarvis is incredible as a man who knows the severity of his crimes and understands how most of his fellow inmates see him. The performance is occasionally frightening, always involving, and the film leaves it to the audience whether Shepard is to be trusted or forgiven.
Mel is a young man who made a bad decision, brought about through generational pain.Vincent Miller gives a guarded performance with eyes that cannot hide the character’s tortured existence. Though younger than Warren and Shepard, Mel is more dangerous. The young man is not a violent threat, but his constant state of unease and distrust of his surroundings threaten to destroy the inmates’ already unstable balance. Witnessing the character’s eventual acceptance of Warren’s knowledge is a moving arc that allows Mel to become an affecting reprieve from the dangers of prison life.
Charles Williams shows great promise in his emotional screenplay that doesn’t fall prey to too many clichés. How he chooses to direct the film solidifies its power. Using a quiet and unobtrusive camera (courtesy of cinematographer Andrew Commis), Williams embraces the silences. Achieving a deeper connection to the characters through reading its characters’ faces, the picture becomes something that will stay with you.
Verdict
Writer-director Williams doesn’t take on the sociopolitical connotations of the prison system. This is the story of three men who have been doomed by both family traumas and by their own hands. For Warren, Shepard, and Mel, the past stands waiting as their fates are put into motion.
Inside is a strong film grounded by three intensely sincere performances. This is one of the year’s best.
Inside is now available to watch on Lionsgate+.
Reviewer: Anthony Francis. He is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Movie Revue. You can find his reviews, interviews, and other works at TheMovieRevue.com, as well as on Instagram and Facebook.
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