“From start to finish I was hooked, and I’m disappointed with myself that this review is so surface-level because Shot Caller deserves better.”

Yesterday I finally got around to watching Shot Caller and it was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. For those who don’t know, Shot Caller is a movie about how prison shapes people who aren’t necessarily bad into hardened criminals. After being taken to prison, a businessman finds himself intertwined with a gang who then quickly promote him in their ranks. I don’t want to go into more detail because you should definitely watch this movie.

I’m still in a rut when it comes to these reviews and it really sucks because I watch a movie like Shot Caller and I absolutely love it, but I know that no words I write can do it justice. So you’ll have to forgive me if my writing seems lackluster or as though it is holding something back, it’s just the fact that I’m lacking motivation and creativity at the moment. Anyway Shot Caller is written and directed by Ric Roman Waugh, and it is a movie that had me gripped from start to finish. The way that Shot Caller manages to show a very dark, gritty look at prison life is absolutely insane to me. The interactions are terrifying, the violence is fucking brutal, and the performances sell every single role. And on top of that Shot Caller manages to bring a lot of emotion to the story as well with the non-linear storytelling structure. Seeing how the main character’s life has spiralled so far down is heartbreaking, and then seeing him realize the same thing later on is even more so. Even the score manages to create this very sombre and emotional feel throughout the film that really mirrors your feeling toward the main character and his story. From start to finish I was hooked, and I’m disappointed with myself that this review is so surface-level because Shot Caller deserves better.

Overall Shot Caller is a fucking fantastic movie. The way that it balances the darker side of criminal/gang activity, while also allowing for some real emotion to poke through is magnificent. Everything form the score to the performances were handled masterfully, and it is a movie that everyone should check out.

I give Shot Caller an A