Much like the Sundance Film Festival, the Tribeca Festival has always carried a reputation of discovery. A clean slate that removes any pre existing expectations other than genre preferences and allows the film to speak for itself. As the festival begins, I found myself bracing for my first film of the festival, Charles Williams’ Inside, a prison drama that carries the emotional weight of the genres most powerful entries. From the earned hope of The Shawshank Redemption to grit of A Prophet, these stories set behind bars have long held an intrigue.
The fascination lies in their to search for light in an individual’s darkest moments and believe in the possibility of redemption. Inside is no different. It explores the cycles of pain and despair that persist behind prison walls and whether those cycles can ever truly be broken.
Inside follows Mel Bright, a young offender who is transferred from juvenile detention to an adult prison. Once there, Mel meets his cellmate Mark Shepard, Australia’s most despised inmate, who is serving a life sentence for his atrocious crimes of his youth. His relationship with Mark is quite auspicious, but it’s close mentorship of sorts with Warren Murfett that offers the offers the films most interesting dynamics and sets events in motion that change all their lives forever.
Charles Williams crafts a screenplay that isn’t interested in the sensationalism of the crimes the inmates committed. Instead, he focuses on the why – the chain of violence and trauma that lead them to this point in their lives. Through the use of narration to tell Mel’s story, Williams captures a self-awareness, probing the deeper question of whether individuals like Mel, Mark and Warren deserve to be released in the first place.
This perspective creates a quietly uneasy tension between hope and hopelessness, threading throughout the screenplay and evoking a sense of purgatory in the lives of Mel, Mark, and Warren. With these themes in play, Williams delivers a matter of fact realism that feels both unsettling and refreshing within the prion drama genre. The slow-burn nature of the film may deter some, as the first half leans into the mundane day to day lives of these inmates, but its purposeful choice leads to a powerful payoff by the end.
Elevating the sharp screenplay are the trio of performances anchoring the film. Vincent Miller delivers a quiet, nuanced turn that’s both impressive and shattering. Opposite him are Academy Award nominee Guy Pearce and Cosmo Jarvis. Two distinctly different yet equally effective performances. Pearce brings a warm gravitas grounding his connection to Mel with authenticity and emotional weight, a notable contrast to his work in The Brutalist. Meanwhile, Jarvis brings an intensity and menace, crackling off the screen. Between his work in Warfare and now Inside, Jarvis is shaping up to have a breakout 2025.
Inside is a finely crafted prison drama that feels timeless and refreshingly new. An enthralling examination of humanity that forgoes flash in favor of quiet and triumphant hope. It marks Charles Williams as a filmmaker to watch, with a confidant hand and assured direction. A powerful way to kick off the Tribeca Festival in grand style.
