K-11

... It would've been nice to see a real transgender actress on screen.

The only way I can safely describe this movie is: Very peculiar.

I think if Harley Quinn and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest had a love child this film would be it! Conceptually it's almost there, some of the events in the dorm can be disturbing to some but this is a sterilised version of 'Let's not really show any detail'

Certainly goes to prove if you want drugs go to this prison as there is bucket loads available to the right people!

The top dog 'Mousey' is not your stereotypical leader as she comes across as being weak at times, shame she wasn't made a bit meaner.

It's still a good time filler if there is nothing else to watch just to see what happens to the lead character.

I heard about this film and looked it up. The premise seemed fascinating and the first thing that came to mind is "I must watch this". Anticipating, from the visuals and advertising, this film would be a trippy ride through prison lane. Unfortunately as soon as I started watching, I got the sense of a very sanitized film with actors who I am sure had lots of terms and conditions imposed on the filmmakers prior to diving into making the film. In one word, the film just does not seem authentic. A simple a word as that maybe, it is the lifeblood of films of this type. If you are going to go through the troubles of doing a prison drama, get in there and get your feet wet. The actors skimped on all situations. Not sure if the script was written like that or what happened between the production and final cut. Whatever may have happened in the process, it is obvious many things got chopped and with them the fear and tension that this sort of situation brings about for any straight attorney who would have been wrongly classified in a prison system. The girl that the attorney meets at the beginning is so obviously female, she was miscast in the first place. Nowhere did her performance remotely resemble that of someone who may have been previously male. If you are going to do something like this.. go all the way. Get the real thing. You would never see obviously real women in a K-11 section and that is what spoiled it for me. Sometimes playing it safe can inhibit your film from all of the wonderful possibilities that could have been effective if more time and effort was placed in finding actors who could accurately portray a grim situation successfully in a rather dark place. My suspension of disbelieve got interrupted several times and at every attempt I made to try to immerse myself in the reality of what should have been a very dark, disturbing, spine tingling situation for the viewer. In other words I expected something around the realm of "OZ" the very successful cable series that did exemplify the tensions and fears that prison life entail. Sad to say, I felt instead of OZ I got something along the lines of "the wizard of OZ" version sprinkled with mild to light tension. Unfortunately, this was a missed opportunity.

Is it that the film is depicting the brutality, inhumanity, homophobia, and transphobia of a horrifically and inherently corrupt system, and the power struggles therein? Or is it that the film is itself homophobic and transphobic in how it depicts this specific dormitory, and portrays and refers to those within? The lack of trans and otherwise queer representation in the casting, and indifference to pronouns in the dialogue, don't help to assuage the latter concern. That the narrative is in no small part a story of self-empowerment, and asserting oneself in circumstances where that power has been ripped away, does.

Is it that filmmaker Jules Stewart is incapable, or possibly her cast, resulting in somewhat leaden, passive pacing and an unbothered air? Or is it that the setting and course of events so thoroughly strips its characters of emotion and humanity that any expression thereof, or heightened drama generally, feels overwrought just by comparison? It's a delicate balance being struck here, and I'm unsure if the end result is somehow "just right," or "endlessly teetering on the edge."

Excise the particulars (setting, characters) and recognizable names and faces, and 'K-11' is one prison drama among many. It's not bad, and in light of the course of events that unfolds, ultimately I think it's kind of good. In fact, I'd like to say I like it even more than I do. It's just that the movie's handling of the subject matter struggles to not seem as problematic as the institution at the heart of the feature. Moreover, for most of the length, the lead character Raymond Saxx feels less like a protagonist and more like a bystander, and the content similarly feels less like a plot and more like a detached portrait of "life in the Big House." When within the last third Saxx experiences a turn-around, and thus the narrative as well, it feels a bit unnatural, and even contrived. The picture gradually gathers all its parts and gels into a cohesive, modestly compelling whole, but for perhaps half the runtime the most dominant element is the question of whether the bigotry is only on the inside radiating out, or if it's also on the outside dripping in.

The cast is restricted by writing and direction that consciously hamstrings their contributions in much the same way as the setting constrains its characters. All the same, I think the assembled actors are pretty swell in realizing their characters with emphatic range, personality, and physicality. That especially goes for Kate del Castillo as charismatic Mousey, and Portia Doubleday as troubled Butterfly - though, again, I'm taken aback by the fact that a picture centering LGBTQ+ characters didn't seem especially concerned about centering LGBTQ+ performers. And I should say, too: I keep hammering a little bit on Stewart, but I don't think there's any one thing wrong with her work in 'K-11.' Only, I've already spoken to everything that seems off about the film, and to whatever extent this construction is intentional versus accidental, the finished product just isn't as successful and convincing as it ideally should or could be. A strong effort, incompletely rendered.

I think the contributions of those behind the scenes are just fine - costume design, hair and makeup, editing, blood, set decoration, and so on. 'K-11' is well made from a technical standpoint, and mildly engaging at large. Nonetheless, there are issues here that never feel entirely resolved for me, and despite the work all put in, the dubiousness that pervades the title from one angle or another just holds it down from climbing any higher. Content warnings are necessary for the indicated homophobia and transphobia, as well as violence and drug use, but overall I do think this is a feature reasonably deserving of one's time should you come across it. But don't go out of your way for it, and just keep in mind that in one fashion or another, 'K-11' has caveats attached.