A highly cinematic adaptation of John Brumpton’s play about a group of inmates incarcerated in an isolated HIV-positive section of a prison.
Acting
Brumpton's Des burns with desperate, lived-in authenticity.
Direction
Johnston's theatrical roots create suffocating intimacy.
Writing
Dialogue crackles with prison-yard poetry and pitch-black wit.
Director
Lawrence Johnston
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during Australia's devastating 1990s HIV/AIDS crisis, the film cast actual HIV-positive actors when stigma made employment nearly impossible.
Director Lawrence Johnston never made another feature; this remains his sole cinematic statement, making its uncompromising vision even more singular.