Brawl in Cell Block 99
Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a 2017 American neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by S. Craig Zahler and starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Marc Blucas, Mustafa Shakir, Dion Mucciacito, Geno Segers, Thomas Guiry, Udo Kier, and Don Johnson. The story follows Bradley Thomas, a drug mule who must kill a man held in a maximum security prison to rescue his pregnant wife from a vengeful drug lord.
Zahler wrote the script of Brawl in Cell Block 99 after watching several prison films, coming up with different elements to add to the genre. He cast Vaughn for his consistency and authenticity, in a break from the comedic roles that Vaughn usually plays. Vaughn exercised and underwent training for the film's action and fighting sequences. Filming took place in Staten Island, New York City, between August and October 2016 under a production budget of $4 million.
The film premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, and was released in theaters, digital HD, and video on demand in October 2017, by RLJE Films. It received positive reviews which praised Vaughn's performance and the film's 1970s exploitation style. The film was named among the year's best films by the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The A.V. Club.
Plot
Bradley Thomas is laid off from his job at an auto repair shop. When he arrives home, he finds a hickey on his wife, Lauren, who admits to an extramarital affair. Bradley orders her inside the house before he violently dismantles her car. He later discusses with Lauren their failing relationship, forgives her, and turns to drug trafficking.Eighteen months later, Bradley and a now-pregnant Lauren have adjusted to a better life. Bradley's boss, Gil, introduces him to Eleazar, a new business associate, with a task to pick up a package of crystal meth with two of Eleazar's men. Bradley distrusts one of Eleazar's henchmen, Roman, but accepts the job when Gil offers him three months' paternity leave. During the job, Bradley realizes it is a police trap and orders Eleazar's men to ditch the drugs. However, Eleazar's men ignore him and exchange fire with the police. Bradley, hesitant, attacks Eleazar's men; one of the men is fatally shot by the police while Roman is incapacitated. The police detain Bradley alive. Unwilling to give out names, Bradley is sentenced to seven years in a medium-security prison.
During the night, Eleazar's men kidnap Lauren. In prison, Bradley is visited by the Placid Man, a henchman for Eleazar. The Placid Man commands Bradley to assassinate an inmate who is held in Cell Block 99 at Redleaf, a maximum-security prison. If Bradley refuses, the limbs of his unborn child will be surgically removed and sent to him. Bradley reluctantly accepts and fights multiple guards in order to be transferred to Redleaf.
At Redleaf, Bradley meets the authoritarian warden Tuggs, who demeans him and sends Bradley to a dilapidated cell. He learns that Cell Block 99 is for society's most despised criminals. Bradley starts a brawl with other prisoners in order to be reassigned to Cell Block 99. After he is reassigned, Bradley learns that his assassination target does not exist.
During the night, a Redleaf guard escorts Bradley to another cell, where Eleazar and his gang, including Roman, are held. They intend to torture Bradley for their amusement throughout his incarceration at Redleaf. Bradley ambushes the guards and brutally kills most of Eleazar's gang. Eleazar calls the doctor to carry out Eleazar's threat and harm Bradley's unborn child. Bradley tortures Eleazar until he calls off the operation.
The Placid Man and the doctor follow Eleazar's orders and drive Lauren unharmed to Gil's house. As they drive away, Gil retrieves a hidden rifle and kills the Placid Man. Lauren takes the rifle and shoots the doctor. Gil phones Bradley to inform him that his family is finally safe, and Bradley speaks to Lauren about their unborn child. Bradley then decapitates Eleazar in his cell. Tuggs and his guards emerge and the warden executes Bradley with his revolver.
Cast
Production
Development
wrote the script for Brawl in Cell Block 99 in 2011. He came up with the concept after watching several prison films at the Film Forum in New York City, coming up with different elements to add into the genre. In an interview with The Verge, Zahler explained, "Prison is such a compelling place to set a movie, because you have a bunch of hard-edged dudes confined together, and all of them are going to have interesting backstories".Zahler named the film Riot in Cell Block 11 and its director Don Siegel as inspirations. Zahler wrote every moment of graphic violence into the script of Brawl in Cell Block 99, although he wondered if some scenes had gone too far. He chose a long title for the film to be evocative and memorable, like his other films Bone Tomahawk and Dragged Across Concrete. He castigated one-word movie titles as vague and frustrating; as an example, he contrasted the 2016 film Moonlight compared to the play it was based on, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.
Zahler sold the script of Brawl in Cell Block 99 to several producers, but progress stalled until Bone Tomahawk was completed. Jack Heller and Dallas Sonnier brought back the script, allowing Zahler to have full creative control over the film. The budget was $4 million. Heller and Sonnier produced the film as Caliber Media. XYZ Films was the executive producer.
Casting
On August 17, 2016, Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Carpenter signed in to play the main leads. Carpenter was initially cast as the main female lead of Zahler's Bone Tomahawk, but was not able to appear due to scheduling conflicts. Zahler praised Vaughn's authenticity, engagement, and consistency in films like Swingers, The Cell, Old School, and Hacksaw Ridge. Although Vaughn was mainly known for his comedic roles, Zahler wanted to tap into Vaughn's talent in playing serious roles. Zahler also chose Vaughn for his imposing presence and physical profile as a large man standing at. Zahler remarked: "I knew he was a big guy. I knew if I saw him on the street I wouldn't think that guy's a comedian. I would think that's a menacing looking dude". Vaughn had seen Bone Tomahawk, Zahler's first directed film, and agreed to perform in Brawl in Cell Block 99 after reading its script. "Zahler doesn't write in a genre," Vaughn said. "He takes all of these elements and cross-pollinates them and tells a unique story". Vaughn went through physical exercise to prepare for fighting sequences that are similar to "traditional Hong Kong fight movie sequences". Drew Leary was the fight choreographer.Vaughn's character Bradley has a cross tattoo on the back of his head, which Vaughn says represents Christianity. Zahler hoped that the cross tattoo would intrigue people to see "this is a Vince Vaughn you've never seen before". Zahler credited Vaughn's boxing and wrestling experience in helping shoot the fight scenes.
Zahler praised Don Johnson, who played Warden Tuggs: "Don does a fantastic job in bringing this character to life as someone who handles different people as an animal handler would handle different animals".
Filming
Principal photography ran for five weeks from August 15, 2016 to October 17, 2016, on Staten Island, New York City. The shooting schedule was tight, and the film crew shot in multiple locations in the same day. The film crew lost locations during the shoot and looked for new locations during their lunch breaks. Producers Jack Heller and Greg Zuk found one of the shoot locations.Cinematographer Benji Bakshi, who previously collaborated with Zahler on Bone Tomahawk, worked on Brawl in Cell Block 99. Zahler chose a narrower aspect ratio of 1.85:1 to focus on scenes with one character, rather than the wider 2.35:1 ratio used for the ensemble cast in Bone Tomahawk. Bakshi shot the film with a RED Weapon camera; Zahler disliked the RED Dragon that he used in Bone Tomahawk because it was visually noisier. To make the film more atmospheric, Zahler and Bakshi focused on blue colors in the early parts of the film, and made the tones progressively darker. The third act was "supposed to feel oppressive, with almost a medieval-dungeon feel".
Since Zahler did not want to use computer-generated imagery in Brawl in Cell Block 99, most of the violence and gore was done as physical special effects. Zahler minimized the use of edits, close-ups, and sound effects to make the violence as realistic and uncomfortable as possible. He explained: "I shoot violence in a really unvarnished way, without all this cinematic frosting, and there's no CG so there isn't that slight off, digital feel. It makes the impact sharper, because it's not how audiences are used to seeing movie violence". The actors rehearsed and performed the fight scenes over multiple takes without stunt doubles, and they risked getting hurt if there was a mistake.
Music
The film's soundtrack was composed by Zahler's friend Jeff Herriott, who had worked with Zahler on Bone Tomahawk. Zahler collaborated with artists to compose original songs, such as the rhythm and blues performed by The O'Jays. The music sounds like vintage soul music, using real instruments instead of synthesizers. While original songs feature on the soundtrack, the film has almost no score as Zahler wanted to focus on the acting.Lakeshore Records released the soundtrack on October 13, 2017 in CD, Digital, and Vinyl formats.