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I went to see this after I saw the trailer last week because I love the Scandinavian TV series that have been shown in Europe over the last few years. BTW, these series have been rated as "getting over the sub titles hangup" on TV....!!

Anyway, I loved Borgen which starred some of the same people.

However, although the acting/actors were first rate, and the photography good, if sombre, as it should have been, the story was trite.

I haven't see Le Prophete to which it is compared, but I have seen Shawshank. I cannot understand the comparison with Shawshank, a much better movie, not really on the same subject, except superficially.

It was gritty, nasty, illustrating well how low people can sink. So? As a movie supposedly about life in prison it was disjointed, bitty, disconnected. The general story line was clear, drug dealing in prison, but the relationships, the deals and the dealing, were poorly dealt with.

As was said in the previous reviews the last 20mins was hard to take, being so far from the rest of the movie.

For a production team with such a good filmography this is out of line.

Prison movies are hard to make. Though the good ones seem effortlessly. And while you can file most of them as dramas (like this one), they almost feel like a sub-genre. Pacing is always key, which this movie proves can handle very well. It's not fancy, but what prison actually is, it's more down and dirty.

The relationships explored make sense in this. And while we may not get all the answers from this movie, the characters are mysterious enough, but also engaging enough for us to care. And that's quite a feat for a movie about criminals and their just (?) punishment. Arguing if prison is the best solution for some or if it works as a whole is a completely different matter.

Rune Pedersen is a new inmate in a tough Danish prison serving a two-year sentence. He's threatened by the brutal inmates and the harsh guards. He becomes the lowest member of the white gang. He works out a way to smuggle into the prison with the help of Muslim Rashid. He starts to get more luxury from his gang. Then he gets squeezed by the ruthless Bazhir.

It's another tough prison movie of drugs, brutality, and racial division from Europe. It is heartless, ugly, and relentless. There is a change in protagonist from Rune to Rashid in the last act. It's a place where brutality works and the monsters rule.

Great prison drama. Very original - the twists are totally unexpected - and very gritty. Certainly pulls no punches in portraying prison life.

Happiest citizens in the world live in Denmark... I guess they forgot to interview those in the prison system!

Tormented souls, violence and prove of "masculinity", bullying, corruption, drugs... everything wrong is here... and two men stand out for a short time: Rune and Rashid! Trying to survive in an environment where death is a daily possibility.

Rough world depicted by masters Tobias Lindholm and Michael Noer, who wrote and co-directed this film!