Dog Pound
Kim Chapiron takes a familiar scenario and fills it with pathos, humour and gutwrenching violence, aided by his prodigious cast.
Kim Chapiron follows up his Vincent Cassel-starring horror Sheitan with an unbearably intense homage to Alan Clarke's Scum.
The French director sets his drama in a Montana juvenile detention centre, as we follow the prison sentence of three teenagers. Using real offenders as extras, the tension simmering in the background is palpable, as Butch, Davis and Angel struggle to adjust to life in a correctional facility.
Yes, it's been seen a million times before, but with a fascinating lead in the form of Canada's Adam Butcher, Dog Pound is utterly captivating. He plays Butch, a young man who struggles to control his temper, banged up for his latest violent outburst. Butcher carries this frustration in his haunted face - his is one you won't forget in a hurry. The other two leads aren't required to have the same intensity, but humour and ultimately despair comes from Shane Kippel's Davis; a loveable rogue, and a self-confessed ladies' man whose petty drug possession unfairly puts him in a situation that'll take more than charm and bravado to survive.
Following the tried and tested pattern of many prison movies, there's the frustration of injustice, with the over-worked guards turning a blind eye to the gangs who run the joint. These reprehensible bullies are disturbingly convincing, with plenty of drama to be had from their unpredictable mood swings.
Knowing there can't be a happy ending for these awfully-treated kids doesn't make the shattering climax any less painful. Boiling point is reached, and the resulting riot is nerve-shreddingly convincing - I can't think of another moment in film where each extra has looked so terrifyingly in the moment. Chapiron takes a familiar scenario and fills it with pathos, humour and gutwrenching violence, aided by his prodigious cast. You've seen it all before, but not through the eyes of these young men.
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