Michael Inside (2017) written and directed by Frank Berry is a clear-eyed look at one young man’s journey to prison. The film focuses on a certain substratum of society, media coverage of which tends to swing from zero to lurid over-exposure. Berry has ventured into this territory before, and brings an empathetic and sensitive touch to the subject-matter (Berry discusses his approach here). The script was work-shopped extensively over months with former prisoners from Irish organisation Pathways, a Dublin-based charity which offers education and support to persons on leaving prison. This is truly collaborative and non-exploitative film-making which tackles a topic that could be sensationalist and voyeuristic.

Dafhyd Flynn is exceptional in the lead role as Michael McCrea, a young man who lives with his grandfather in a far-flung estate of Dublin, separated from the city by the M50 motorway and nestling in the shadow of the Dublin mountains. Last weekend, as I was reading through the ticker tape of restaurant reviews one reviewer warned that the Dublin market was becoming dangerously saturated. It’s far cry from restaurant saturation Michael was raised. Michael’s grandfather Francis is played by a wonderful Lalor Roddy, who radiates a weariness and compassion that provides an emotional counterpoint to Michael’s show of stoicism in prison. Likewise, a small role for Hazel Doupe as Michael’s girlfriend Orla, gives us a glimpse of another life.

The film follows Michael’s shifting fortunes, as terrible consequences flow from his reluctant decision to ‘mind’ a bag of drugs for a friend. It is tempting to consider this tale a tragedy in the classical sense, where one irreversible choice damns a character to their doom. But classical tragedy suggests that a protagonist is brought to full comprehension of their true self, and classical tragedy has nothing on the truly mundane tragedy playing out in Michael Inside. Michael is facing a daunting obstacle of structural disadvantage, routes and opportunities to deviate from the path are closed to him by the social and economic forces pushing downwards. As he assumes a hard shell of cruelty, Michael isn’t becoming more himself, his circumstances are demanding he assume a new persona.

The Irish cultural offerings which have previously attempted to capture these stories have included the immensely popular Love/Hate. For Michael Inside, Berry takes a distinctly more naturalistic and understated approach to both plot and character. However, as Love/Hate was a vehicle for names such as Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Robert Sheehan and Ruth Negga, we can only hope young actors Dafhyd Flynn and Hazel Doupe find the same paths open to them in their careers.

In Michael Inside, Frank Berry has created an original prison film. You might think you know the plot beats, but the realism of the dialogue and the commitment to truth over sensation bring something new to the game.

4/5