A movie you should see - Cell 211

This is an awesome movie coming out of Spain with a very cool premise. A new prison guard Juan, on the first day of the job gets caught in a prison riot. Abandoned by his colleagues, he has to pretend to be a prisoner to survive the riot. This film is great at sucking you into the story and keeping you on the edge of your seat as to what is going to happen next and how Juan is going to keep up the charade. See he's a bit of a pretty boy, and the other guys are..well...hardened prisoners. 

That ugly fella on the cover, he's the instigator of the riot, and a total bad ass. But he's also a bit of a thinker. He's instigated this riot not for the hell of it, but to get better conditioners for all the prisoners. He sees something in Juan and pretty much appoints him as his right hand man. There's a bit of Stockholm Syndrome going on here as the longer Juan spends with these guys, especially the main man Malamadre, the more he becomes one of them. That isn't helped by the fact that the guys on the outside, the guards and the suits running the prison, are all shown to be a bit slimy really.

This movie is great because it's the antithesis of today's vapid Hollywood movies. There's no rap-rock soundtrack while the prisoners riot, there's no cameos from some cult actor hamming it up, there's no overly dramatic moralising. It's all done very well done while still having some cool prison movie moments as well as casting a sympathetic light on the prisoners while critising the administration without going over the top. It all builds to a massive climax that satisfies. I can't recommend this movie enough. Check it out.