Shot Caller (2017)
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A well-to-do family man must navigate the brutal realities of the California prison system after a tragic accident.
The story
Jacob Harlon, a successful stockbroker in California, finds his life upended after a fatal DUI accident leads to his incarceration at the California Institution for Men in Chino. To survive the harsh environment and the threats of the prison system, Harlon is forced to navigate a dangerous underworld. After a series of escalating conflicts, he is recruited into a gang by a 'shot caller' named Bottles. As he rises in rank and adopts a harder persona to protect himself and his family, the line between his former life and his new identity as a hardened inmate begins to blur.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a DUI accident leads to his imprisonment, stockbroker Jacob Harlon is forced to join a white supremacist gang to survive. He rises in rank, earns the name 'Money,' and is eventually transferred to Corcoran State Prison, where he becomes second-in-command of the Aryan Brotherhood. As his release nears, he is forced to participate in a weapons deal with the Sureños. Upon release, he manages to keep his family safe while navigating the fallout of his criminal ties. After a series of betrayals and a final confrontation with the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, Harlon secures his position as the new leader of the group at Corcoran, finally finding a sense of peace regarding his family's safety.
- First release year
- 2017
- Runtime (minutes)
- 121
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Ric Roman Waugh
- Writers
- Ric Roman Waugh · writer
- Cast and characters
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau · Jacob Harlon; Omari Hardwick; Lake Bell; Jon Bernthal; Emory Cohen; Jeffrey Donovan; Evan Jones; Benjamin Bratt; Holt McCallany; Juan Pablo Raba
- Genres
- crime; thriller
- Tone and mood
- tense; gritty
- Premise and plot tags
- prison; crime; gangster
- Reception
- The film received mixed or average reviews, with critics praising the lead performance and the sense of authenticity in the setting and dialogue.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 70% · review count: 50; Metacritic · score: 59 · scale: 100 · review count: 10
- Production trivia
- The film was produced by Bold Films and Participant Media.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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