Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Beautiful Prison




Yesterday I say down to watch A Beautiful Prison. I had no real idea what it was, and that was by choice.  Lately I find myself not wanting to know anything about the film I will be watching. It helps make me more prepared to be surprised.

Beautiful Prison is the story of Ben, a mentally handicapped young man who works at a manufacturing plant with his slacker pot head friend Jerry. We find out through a series of very dark and graphic flashbacks that Ben was once normal but a beating he got from his dad caused him to be slow.

His sister just so happens to be married to his boss. Ben spends,most days watching a Mexican soap opera and dreaming of Jubelie, the female lead. His distractions with this cause him to drift off at work causing production delays.

One day after another mishap Jerry steps in to cover for him and gets fired. Fueled by his anger he gets in a physical confrontation with his boss/brother in law and is hit buy a car putting him in a coma.

Inside his dream world he learns he can control what happens. He's no longer slow, he's dating the girl he dreams about, everything is good unroll he starts flashing back to the day in his childhood where he was hurt.

The film has a great washed out color look and the dream world is haunted by zombie like creatures when things are bad. The score of well done and sets the pacing of each scene very well.

The acting on Kaelin Stockwell as Ben is fantastic. He's sympathetic and believable. You become vested through the film watching his character develop. I was actually dissapointed we did not see him play the mentally challenged version of Ben longer as his facial expressions and mannerisms were amazing.

Overall this a a great film. Compelling characters, a great story, and strong performances by all involved make this a high recommendation


Overall 3 out of 5 stars

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