A Prayer Before Dawn review – Thai jail drama packs a terrifying punch
19 July 2018 11:00
Joe Cole plays a British boxer fighting for survival among the inmates of a Bangkok hellhole in this grisly, visceral and often unwatchably brutal biopicTraditionally, boxing is the way out of the ghetto, or the way into a central core of toxic masculinity – and then redemptively out of it. In this movie, it is the route to a safer, fractionally more prestigious, marginally less violent part of a Thai jail: the Klong Prem central prison in Bangkok. This is the true story of Billy Moore, a guy from Liverpool who got involved in drugs and burglary, tried to restart his life in Thailand as a boxer and stuntman, but was arrested there in 2005 for gun offences and sentenced to three years in this authentically terrifying place. He earned respect for mastering Muay Thai boxing, and was finally released in a royal amnesty in 2010 to serve the rest of his term in the UK. He was convicted again this summer for burglary. Related: Joe Cole: ‘I was ready to deliver a kicking’ Continue readingread full article
