The Work

Twice a year, a group of men meets for four days of therapy in a surprising setting: New Folsom Prison in California. The participants are both convicted murderers and gang members and men from outside the prison walls. Rivalries between different gangs and races are left outside in order to create the safest possible environment. Without commentary and keeping the camera close to the heavily-tattooed protagonists, the film follows three of the "outsiders," who discover that their fears and problems aren't nearly as unique as they thought—and that they can learn as much from the inmates as the other way around. After all, even though mentors are on hand, the men mainly do it themselves: they talk—often about missing fathers—yell, fight, cry and comfort one another. In the process, they manage to shed their masks and remove their armor. The Work is an emotional, intense and at times heartrending documentary that completely dismantles every preconception about criminality and masculinity.