Inside has a powder keg plot and a cast of fractious inmates ready to blow at any point, making for an engaging and exciting watch.
★★★★☆
Mel Blight (Vincent Miller) is moved to a general prison from juvenile detention, where he has spent the last six years incarcerated for killing another child. He is due for parole soon, as is Warren Murfett (Guy Pearce), an experienced prisoner ready to be reunited with his son on the outside. Mel shares a cell with Mark Shepard (Cosmo Jarvis), a mentally odd child rapist and killer who has recently moved from maximum security and who has started becoming a preacher for the prison. Mel is terrified of leaving prison and plans to carry out a contract killing on Mark to stay locked up.
The two supporting performances from Pearce and Jarvis are utterly outstanding. Pearce holds the film together with his quintessential Aussie character: a man who seems quite laidback but is holding deep guilt and turmoil just beneath the surface. He plays Warren with the levelheaded experience you would expect from the thirty-year career professional. Between this and The Brutalist, a few more juicy roles could see us living through a veritable Pearce-naissance.
Jarvis is a terrific up-and-coming actor. Between his traumatic performance in Warfare (2025) and his fish-out-of-water role in Shogun (2024), Jarvis might be one of the best new actors coming out of the UK this decade. His take on the character of Mark may, at the beginning, seem a little acting with a capital A—but by the end, the film completely sells you on this strange character.
On the other hand, Miller lacks the same experience that the other two have, and it shows in his range. He looks a little too green to be someone who’s been in juvie for so many years, and when he does lose it, it feels a lot more forced than natural.
The narrative is compelling, touching on the ultimate fear that some long-stay prisoners have when they reach the end of their sentence: What now? There is a marvellous scene toward the end of the second act when Warren gets a day release to see his son Adrian (Toby Wallace) after fourteen years apart. So much is going on beneath the surface of these characters. Warren feels guilty for not letting Adrian see him in prison during his stay, and for missing his childhood, Adrian hates his father for not being there when his mother was dying. It’s a triumph of both acting and writing—you can’t tear your eyes away from the screen.
There are perhaps some structural issues; the first act feels a little long and the climax feels quite rushed, but the middle part of the film is electric. This is filmmaker Charles Williams’ debut feature, after winning the Short Film Palme d’Or in 2018 for All These Creatures. It’s terrific to see a filmmaker successfully move over from shorts to features with such deftness, and it’ll be fascinating to see how his career unfolds after such a strong debut.
The Verdict
Intriguing characters and a well-written screenplay make this Australian prison drama a must-watch, featuring yet another scene-stealing Guy Pearce performance.
Words by Jordon Searle
Inside is available on digital, DVD and Blu-ray from 11 August.
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