The debut feature from Australian writer-director Charles Williams, Inside is a powerfully unsentimental thriller anchored by incredible performances. After being transferred from juvenile to adult prison, Mel Blight (Vincent Miller) is taken under the wing of both Mark Shepard (Cosmo Jarvis, Shogun), Australia’s most despised criminal, and Warren Murfett (Guy Pearce), an inmate soon to be paroled. Sentenced as "never to be released" at the age of just 13 for a brutal crime and with a contract out on his life, Shepard is now a Pentecostal preacher. Mel agrees to play music for his chapel service with the intent of making good on the contract, but as he grows closer to both Shepard and Murfett he finds his ideas about evil and the possibility for redemption are challenged, before being put to the ultimate test when plans to transfer Shepard ignite tensions among the inmates.

Inside is a nuanced exploration of the complex Australian prison system, alongside the capacities and limitations for real internal rehabilitation of the people within it. Hinging on a central trio whose relationships to each other are constantly shifting, it's a refreshing depiction of how these men's pasts and ability for self-perception set the course for their future, while directly addressing the societal pressures put upon them. We've been eagerly awaiting a feature from Williams since his 2018 Cannes Palme d'Or win for short film All These Creatures and here he's more than delivered on that promise with an incredibly assured debut— though not always an easy watch, Inside has moments of beauty and grace that will linger.