Synopsis
Raymond Joshua, a young black performance poet, is arrested and imprisoned for a petty marijuana charge in a Washington, D.C. jail. Although the confining prison walls do little to shield him from danger, it is within those walls that Raymond establishes his identity, strength, and voice and meets a prison gang leader and a prison writing teacher, Lauren Bell. Bell inspires Raymond to use the power of creative expression to free himself from the struggles and demise of the Black male as another victim of the judicial system.
Ratings
IMDb7/10
Rotten Tomatoes60%
Metacritic73/100
26 audience votes
Key crew
- Marc LevinDirector
- DJ SpookyOriginal Music Composer
- Saul WilliamsScreenplay
- Richard StrattonScreenplay
- Bonz MaloneScreenplay
- Marc LevinScreenplay
- Sonja SohnScreenplay
Cast
- Saul WilliamsRay Joshua
- Sonja SohnLauren Bell
- Bonz MaloneHopha
- Lawrence WilsonBig Mike
- Beau SiaJimmy Huang
- Andre TaylorChina
- Momolu StewartBay (Jail Rapper)
- Ron JonesDo Wop Cop
- Reamer ShedrickDo Wop Cop
- Allan E. LucasChief C.O.
- Dominic Chianese Jr.Officer Dom
- Jerome GoldmanJail Class Poet 'Why'
Stills
Themes
restored