Great photography, very good direction, good editing. If you were to watch this movie without knowing it is inspired to a portion of life of someone, you could think it is a sort of visually satisfying mockumentary about Thailandese prisons. Joe Cole does a great job, but it is not enough to save the movie from itself: too tight, too monotonous, too didactic. Just like the prison it portrays. Cole is left alone, in isolation, trying to portray Billy Moore. But the writing keeps everything two-dimensional: a lot of things happen during the movie, but somehow they pass Billy and us by.
Review of A Prayer Before Dawn
