Screwed - War in the Prison - DVD

Film: When Sam Norwood (James D'Arcy) finishes his war service in Iraq and returns home, he is faced with a depressing reality. Despite risking his life for his country, job prospects for ex-soldiers are appallingly slim. But wanting to provide a secure future for his wife Danielle (Kate Magowan), he reluctantly takes a job as a prison guard in one of the most dangerous detention centers in the country. Drugs, violence and humiliation are the order of the day here. It soon becomes clear to Sam that he not only has to watch out for the felons imprisoned here, but that many of his colleagues are also dirty and don't like to be caught on the hop. Increasingly, Sam falls into the clutches of a system where the lines between good and evil cannot be clearly defined. Then, when he messes with the wrong people, he's in danger of being shipped off to the other side of the bars.

Screwed is a tense prison thriller with some very intense scenes staged with a certain ruthlessness and good actors. The story itself doesn't reinvent the wheel, of course. Again and again, filmmaker Reg Traviss uses rather worn out clichés of the genre. But even if this means that not every scene works really well, the overall result remains very positive.

The film is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Ronnie Thompson, who chronicled his time as a prison guard in the book. This gives the film a certain realism that makes for an oppressive and very dark atmosphere. Although some dialogues seem a bit too artificial and the dramaturgy here and there slightly overdone, but overall the spiral of drugs, violence and betrayal, into which Sam threatens to fall, is quite credibly traced.

Some confrontations within the prison walls are quite brutally staged. But the violence rarely seems striking and is an important part of the story. But much more intense are the mind games that inmate Truman (Noel Clark) uses to try and rattle Sam. It's through the mix of hard-hitting prison thriller and quieter psycho-drama that the film draws the strength to help it get over the less successful aspects.

Screwed - War in Jail is intensely acted and suspensefully directed. No masterpiece, but a gripping thriller that can be recommended to friends of prison movies of the harder kind thanks to its oppressive atmosphere and some lasting moments. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The gloomy, undercooled atmosphere of the thriller drama is also noticeable in the rather restrained color scheme of the clean, overall pleasantly sharp image. There are small points deducted for detail in the darker sequences, but overall there is little to complain about here. The sound is dominated by the dialogue and occasional surround effects, which are mixed a bit stronger on the DTS track than on the equally decent Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Good.

Extras: In addition to a brief look at the make-up effects, the DVD also has some interviews (approx. 50 min.) to offer, but unfortunately they are presented without optional subtitles and can therefore only be recommended to interested viewers with a good knowledge of English. In addition, there is the trailer for the film and other program tips from the provider.

Conclusion: Screwed - War in Jail is an exciting, in places oppressive prison thriller, which does not reinvent the genre and also uses many already known set pieces, thanks to good actors and some very intense moments until the finale to captivate knows. The DVD is convincing from a technical point of view, the missing subtitles are a negative aspect of the bonus material. Nevertheless, there is still a: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp