Shot Caller

Jacob Harlon is an ordinary family man whose life unravels after he causes a fatal car accident while driving drunk. Sentenced to prison, he finds that survival behind bars demands he adopt the rules of the men around him. He aligns himself with a gang that offers protection from other inmates, and over the years the quiet suburban husband is remade into someone hardened enough to operate inside that world.

Once released, Jacob learns the arrangement did not end with his sentence. The gang's leaders expect repayment for the safety they provided, and they pressure him to organize a crime against a rival group on the streets of Southern California, drawing his former life and his new one into collision.

Ric Roman Waugh wrote and directed the film, his third feature after Felon and Snitch, continuing his focus on the American prison and criminal justice system. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau leads as Jacob, with Omari Hardwick, Jon Bernthal, Lake Bell, Emory Cohen and Jeffrey Donovan among the cast. On IMDb the film holds 7.3/10 from over 94,000 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 7/10 from roughly 2,300 votes, while the critics' rating stands lower at 5.9/10 from 50 reviews.