Charles Williams | Australia | 2024 | MA15+
From Palme d’Or winning director Charles Williams, Inside is a gripping exploration of redemption within Australia’s prison system.
“Perfect. An incendiary debut.”
Inside centres on Mel Blight, played by newcomer Vincent Miller, as a young inmate transferred from a juvenile facility to an adult prison. There, he becomes entangled with two influential figures: Mark Shepard (Shōgun’s Cosmo Jarvis), notorious as Australia’s most despised criminal, and Warren Murfett (Guy Pearce, The Brutalist), an inmate nearing parole. As Mel navigates the complex dynamics between these two men, a paternal triangle forms, revealing that even the most hardened individuals can possess a capacity for vulnerability.
Curator’s Note
The first feature film from Charles Williams, director of Cannes Palme d’Or award-winning short film All These Creatures, marks an incredible feature debut from an already established voice in short-form Australian filmmaking. Williams brings an empathetic lens to the Australian prison system, portraying the struggle of damaged individuals attempting to grow and change within an institution ill-equipped for true rehabilitation.
Vincent Miller’s portrayal of Mel Blight offers a nuanced counterpoint to the seasoned performances of Guy Pearce and Cosmo Jarvis. Miller brings a raw vulnerability to his portrayal of Mel, effectively capturing the character’s innocence and internal turmoil as he navigates the complexities of adult prison life. This subtlety is worlds apart from Pearce’s portrayal of Warren Murfett, as a hardened inmate on the brink of parole, and Jarvis’s sanctimonious depiction of Mark Shepard.
Inside examines themes of generational trauma and inherited cycles of violence, questioning whether salvation can ever be found within a system built to contain, rather than heal.
– Ella Cawthorn, Film Program Coordinator
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