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A Prayer Before Dawn

A Prayer Before Dawn

2018
Drama, Action
1h 56m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 51.1% from 266 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(266)
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Rated 04 Oct 2018
45
40th
This movie was extremely hard to enjoy. The subject matter offers little aside from witnessing a young boxer's drug addiction that leads to a brutal incarceration in a foreign prison. Most of the movie is either mute or filled with chaotic foreign language without subtitles. Witnessing the young man's rage and adversities did not feel worthwhile or satisfying. Extra points for the realism and the depressingly brutal atmosphere.
Rated 13 Nov 2018
80
62nd
Pumelling prison drama could glibly be described as 'ROCKY rides the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS'; while the scenarios depicted are no doubt authentically and viscerally recalled, the film can't quite break free of the standard tropes of the boxing movie/prison drama. However the painfully intimate camerawork does give a feeling of immediacy (as unpleasant as that is!) and Cole's underplayed, and charismatic, performance is a solid anchor. The unsettling (and terrifying) prison scenes are well executed.
Rated 23 Jul 2018
70
47th
A tortuous and pummelling experience that operates without much concern for the viewer. The lack of subtitles just compounds this disorientation and suffocates the viewer into a swell of primal roaring and constant threat. I would normally be more into this sort of film, but it was a bit too arduous of a viewing to go back to.
Rated 16 Oct 2017
75
60th
A good combo of prison and sports movie. By not subtitling any of the Thai dialogues, we as a viewer are as much confused and insecure as Billy about what's happening all the time. Joe Cole plays Billy's violent, short-tempered nature perfectly.
Rated 25 Feb 2018
70
62nd
Appreciate the authentic setting, but the storytelling and camerawork weren't for me.
Rated 29 Jul 2018
70
31st
Dark, with even the tiniest shed of light ruined by depressing sequences. The uncertainty of what's going on/being said adds to the truth behind this brutality. There's a final fight scene that's actually convincing and doesn't throw away the honesty in this film as well. A story I'd be glad to read about.
Rated 12 Aug 2018
80
49th
Midnight Express re-boot...
Rated 21 Oct 2018
75
84th
Superbly directed, edited and produced, one of the most cinematic memoir adaptations I've ever seen, "A Prayer Before Dawn" always shows instead of telling. It's a visceral, sweat-drenched and deliberately unpleasant film whose protagonist (the excellent Joe Cole) is never glamorized or sanctified for enduring constant beatings in a struggle to survive a 3rd-world prison.
Rated 04 Nov 2017
75
75th
brutal and chaotic film
Rated 27 Jul 2018
69
70th
Tough to watch for many reasons. The lack of subtitles when needed is a strange decision for me. Nevertheless interesting true story of survival.
Rated 23 Aug 2018
72
85th
Brutal, intense and realistic. More reviews here : http://movie-freak.be
Rated 13 Jan 2024
75
79th
Utterly non-compromising depicting the gruesome practices in Thai prison, with a powerful Joe Cole giving it all he's got, this is not an original movie per se. But a series of good toned down artistic and casting choices make it impossible to look away, as if i myself was captured. Lucky for me though i made it through without being gangraped in the ass, something that can't be said for the characters in this film. Cool that they used music by Loscil
Rated 31 Oct 2018
83
80th
A Prayer Before Dawn, gerçek bir hikayeden uyarlanmış izlemesi kolay olmayan, başından sonuna kadar rahatsız edebilecek unsurlarla dolu güzel bir film. Peaky Blinders'tan tanıdığımız Joe Cole'ın donuk oyunculuğu ile birlikte karanlık olan film adeta ışıldıyor.
Rated 01 Jan 2019
75
74th
Pretty intense movie. Was expecting a kind of 'Shawshank' scene (with the rape), but actually lucky for the main character he doesn't need to go through that himself. Good film to watch if you like thaiboxing!
Rated 13 Jun 2019
66
55th
Went into it blind. Had a hard time enjoying the first hour or so. Without knowing anything about Billy Moore, there's little to latch onto -- the movie just kinda glosses over who he is. The highlight for me was the subtly realistic evolution of Moore as a fighter -- getting smashed by more refined strikers with more control and a bigger arsenal of maneuvers at first, then developing from one-dimensional boxer into adept muay thai practitioner. Great locations and Dogma-like shots, too.
Rated 18 Mar 2020
50
17th
tek sorum var: o da, iyi veya kötü anlamında değil ama şu, neden?
Rated 04 Oct 2020
40
27th
If there were more dialog and less nonsensical kicking and punching, this could have been a good movie.
Rated 06 Aug 2021
70
75th
Dövüşcü olan torbacı gencimizin, Tayvan hapishanesinde başına gelenler. Bahtsız bedevi tarzında, sert sahneler ile ilerliyor. Fakat durağan yapısı, 1 yerden sonra filmden kopmamıza neden oluyor. Joe Cole zor 1 rolün üstünden geçmiş. Filmin sonunda, Billy Moore. Dövdürmeden olmaz.

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