The first feature film from Australian writer-director Charles Williams is a realistic and memorable character study of men serving time in prison.
As a teenager, Mel Blight (newcomer Vincent Miller) killed a boy, and was sent to prison. At a vulnerable age he is transferred from juvenile detention to a maximum security adult jail where he is assigned to share a cell with Mark Shepard (Cosmos Jarvis Persuasion), one of the country’s most hardened criminals, never to be released.
Mark is a self-styled preacher calling to the heavens from the prison chapel, sometimes talking in tongues, while Mel accompanies him on a small electronic keyboard.
Warren Murfett (Guy Pearce, LA Confidential) is close to parole and anxious to reunite with his son Adrian (Toby Wallace). He develops a paternal relationship with Mel and recruits him to kill Mark giving him his prison-made shiv – with the promise of thousands for doing the job.
The cinematography is by Andrew Comnic, and the musical score by Chiara Constanza, well-known for her film scores.
The threat of violence and hope of redemption are conveyed in realistic and sincere performances by the well-chosen actors. They demand the attention of the audience.
It was filmed in Melbourne, with some parts shot at the Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre, and funded by Screen Australia and the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Williams’s short film All These Creatures won Best Short Film Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival – and more than 50 other international awards.
104 minutes.
Watch the trailer…
