A Prophet (2009)
Breath-taking masterpiece. Prison & crime genre. Begins with a naieve and possibly innocent teenage boy thrust into an incomprehensibly harsh system. Forced to do the most horrific things, he learns everything he doesn't want to be and everything he doesn't want out of life from firsthand experience. Eventually, he carves out his own kind of morality and humanity from the despicable framework he is given. He doesn't become a hero, but he becomes as good - in both efficacy and ethics - as he can conceive given the environment he is damned to.
Beautifully shot. Haunting scenes. Graphic violence. Essentially a meditation on how to participate and survive in an evil world when the only truly moral choice is to surrender and die.
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