Rise (2014)

Will (Nathan Wilson) is a young nurse imprisoned for rape after a drunken one night stand. Protesting his innocence, he must adapt to the harsh realities of prison life while his barristers try to organise an appeal. Fortunately, he falls in with Jimmy (Martin Sacks) who, after a bit of hostility, becomes his pal and protector. He also discovers God, or the Christian faith at any rate, whilst incarcerated and we watch his personality and maturity develop over the next 1¾ hours. Somehow it doesn't quite work, though. It is oddly sterile. Why do the pair bond? The religious undertones are so subtle as to be almost irrelevant and though it does deal with serious issues - bullying, mental health and suicide, it does so with an almost soap-style of storytelling. The acting is fine, the drama is fine, the writing is fine - but that's about the height of it, really as it builds predictably to an ending that is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Australian justice system. It's a decent debut effort from director Mack Lindon, but in itself, nothing very remarkable.