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Release

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Duration: 7 days

£2.53

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Synopsis

Release is set in a hellish prison where violence and sexual degradation are the norm. In the film, a young priest and a prison guard fall secretly in love -- from the maker's of last year’s hit, Shank.

3 Reasons To buy this film

An intense and powerful love story.
Wildly captivating!
From the creators of Shank.

Review

Following the searing urban drama Shank, the Bristol, England- based creative team have returned with Release, an equally intense and powerful love story set in a hellish mens prison. Jack Gillie (Daniel Brocklebank), a young priest convicted of a serious crime, is incarcerated. Angry that his church has abandoned him, he suffers from a lapse of his faith. Yet he attempts to help and befriend his vulnerable cellmate Rook (Wayne Virgo, the lead in Shank). But no amount of comfort can protect Rook (and eventually the priest) from the threatened violence from one particular sadistic inmate. It’s a volatile atmosphere; the guards either complacent or on the side of the thugs, the female warden is more concerned about power and sex than in maintaining control and the restless inmates Amidst all of this, Jack’s only beam of hope comes in the form of prison guard Martin (Garry Summers) with whom he begins a passionate but clandestine affair. When tensions rise and violence explodes within the walls, both mens dreams of escaping together are threatened. Not your usually light weight gay indie, Release makes for a visceral, gut-wrenching affair touching on the subjects of justice, retribution, repression, religion and love.

-- Raymond Murray

Customer Reviews

Prison love

Nympho wrote on 10/21/2011:

It was nothing like TLAV's perspective on it. In a nut shell... I did like the movie. It was about prison love and almost like it is now in prison "just not as rough per se'". I liked the nudity to bad it wasn't what I had hoped for in the rape department. But that could have been drawn out more. But all in all It was about a prisoner that finds faith and god while doing his time for murder falls in love with a priest and tries to help a young boy in jail. But you may do your time but karma isn't done with you. It was a rough movie but I for sure didn't like the title for the movie. I am not giving it away. I would buy it for my DVD Collection. If your into the darker things in prison love, rape, the real deal life type this is probably as good as it gets or you check out OZ. A lot more nudity and all men jail. Prison love and doing what you can to survive.

Ditto to "Worst movie I've seen this year so far."

FilmLover wrote on 05/04/2011:

Cannot agree more with the two reviews below - "painful to watch" and 'there are just too many things wrong with this movie." It prevented me from even considering renting 'Shank" because I can't imagine it could be a good film if the follow-up was THIS bad.

Horrible script, bad acting, listless photography, crap production design, typical gay ghetto nudity (in prison, how original), and a howler of an ending that insults everyone connected to either making the film or the gullible who watched the film, myself included. If only 'director prison' were a real thing, because these two should not be allowed to be behind a camera for a few years until they get it together. A flop of epic proportions.

So, yeah, don't rent it. And for the love of God, don't buy it.

Worst movie I've seen this year so far

Latisha Ebersole wrote on 03/13/2011:

There are just too many things wrong with this movie except for the erotic cover art work. There is the unnecessary breaks in the story line by too many flah-backs during in a random way, there is the lack of character development except perhaps for the evil prisoner who miraculously seems to be everywhere, there is at times no character development (the warden is patheticly unbelievable), there is no culmination at the end, predictable, and the whole film is very surreal and unbelievable; I want my 87 minutes back!

Intense

Brockstar wrote on 01/21/2011:

It was a great movie, but very painful to watch.

If you were wondering what happened to Wayne Virgo...

AHiLife wrote on 01/07/2011:

After him & his lover walked off into the sunset together ( which for some odd reason does NOT happen in a plurality of "gay"themed movies) you'll find him here.Imprisoned. He's now a convicted crack dealer, who for some unexplainable reason, is sadistically set upon by the prison bad-asses. After suffering horrific beatings, he manages to rise again, as a drug-addled psychopathic killer, who is now channeled to do the bidding of those far more violent than him, but for some unexplained reason, need him to execute their bidding.
This movie makes no sense at all, it seems forced to introduce greater levels of violence for no explainable reasons, and just is flat-out, in my opinion, a seemingly contractually obligated second movie, by those involved in the making of Shank.
I realize Wayne is not the title character here, but he is the one I bought the movie because of.
I could go on & on about how strained all of the plots & story lines & characters in this movie are. But, it would be easier to say, it all bordered on cliche.Wayne was stellar in Shank. A dark & honest commentary on todays youth & culture. Buy IT!
Release, Rent it

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