FilmSkool — a free film school
A Prayer Before Dawn
The amazing true story of Billy Moore, an English boxer incarcerated in Thailand’s most notorious prison. Thrown into a world of drugs and violence, he finds his best chance to escape is to fight his way out in prison Muay Thai tournaments.
2018 · Directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire · 116 min · Drama · Action · Crime · Screenplay in the scene database · 4 frames
Tagline
The fight starts from inside.
Plot
Billy Moore, a young British boxer and troubled heroin addict, is arrested in Thailand and charged with possession of stolen goods and a firearm.
Incarcerated in Klong Prem prison, he is quickly subjected to the horrors of Thai prison life, including being moved into a crowded cell ruled by cell leader Keng, being forced to sleep next to a corpse and witnessing at knifepoint the rape of a fellow inmate. His interactions with the other prisoners and staff are tense; at one point, he goes into a violent frenzy and bites a corrections officer's neck for being refused painkillers. After his punishment, Billy attempts to befriend a transgender prisoner named Fame. Life in prison worsens for Billy and he retreats into heavy drug abuse. He subsequently beats two Muslim chefs close to death after being bribed with ya ba by a corrupt prison officer.
Billy's mental health ultimately deteriorates and he attempts suicide by slitting his wrist with a shiv, though he survives after an inmate saves his life. Driven by a desperate need to fight and battle his demons, Billy eventually joins the boxing team with the help of Fame, with whom he becomes intimate with. He quickly adapts to the art of Muay Thai, winning his first bout in a close, hard-fought battle. Impressed by his performance, the prison warden, Preecha, transfers him to the boxing team cell, becoming the first foreigner to compete in the national Muay Thai tournament and represent the prison.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Nick Saltrese, Jonathan Hirschbein
- Cinematography: David Ungaro
- Edited by: Marc Boucrot
- Production design: Chaiyan Chunsuttiwat
- Produced by: Roy Boulter, Nicholas Simon, Rita Dagher, Sol Papadopoulos
Cast
- Joe Cole as Billy Moore
- Vithaya Pansringarm as Officer Preecha
- Pornchanok Mabklang as Fame
- Somrak Khamsing as Suthin
- Nic Shake as Doctor
- Panya Yimmumphai as Keng
- Sura Sirmalai as Chanachol
- Sakda Niamhom as Saiyok
- Billy Moore as Billy Moore's Father
- Komsan Polsan as Patumsuk
Production
- Country: Cambodia, China, France, United Kingdom, United States of America
- Language: English, Thai
- Studios: Meridian Entertainment, Symbolic Exchange, Senorita Films, Indochina Productions
- Box office: $958,883
- Themes: prison, prisoner, based on novel or book, thailand, biography, based on true story, muay thai, kick boxing, based on memoir or autobiography, drugs
On this film
This is the plain index, shown because JavaScript is off. Every lesson here is a free video published by the channel credited on it and plays through that channel's own embed — FilmSkool hosts nothing.