A Prayer Before Dawn

A Prayer Before Dawn is a 2017 biographical prison drama film directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and written by Jonathan Hirschbein and Nick Saltrese. The film stars Joe Cole and is based on the book A Prayer Before Dawn: My Nightmare in Thailand's Prisons by Billy Moore. A Prayer Before Dawn had its world premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May, and was released in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2018, by Altitude, and in the United States on 10 August 2018, by A24. Plot Billy Moore, a young British boxer and troubled heroin addict, is arrested in Thailand after being charged with possession of stolen goods and a firearm. Incarcerated into Klong Prem prison, Billy is quickly subjugated to the horrors of Thai prison life, including being moved into a crowded mass ruled by cell boss Keng, forced to sleep next to a corpse and witnessing at knifepoint the rape of a fellow inmate. Billy's experiences with the other prisoners and personnel are tense, at one point going into a violent frenzy and biting into the neck of a corrections officer after being refused painkillers. Following his punishment, Billy attempts to befriend a transgender prisoner named Fame. Life in prison worsens for Billy, and he retreats into heavy drug abuse; he subsequently beats two Muslim chefs half to death after being bribed ya ba by a corrupt corrections officer.