Stranger Inside
A striking story of a young woman seeking her mother in the depths of the prison system. Treasure Lee (Yolanda Ross) is a tough juvenile offender who has never known her mother. When she learns that her mother, known as Brownie (Davenia McFadden), is in a nearby prison for life, Treasure attacks a fellow inmate to get transferred there. Once she arrives, she and her mother soon bond, and Brownie puts Treasure to work dealing drugs as part of her team. As Treasure gets in deeper, she discovers that her mother isn't everything she pretends to be. This potent HBO movie, directed by Cheryl Dunye (The Watermelon  Woman), is tightly written and edited, and features remarkable performances from a cast of unknowns, including Rain Phoenix. Explicit sex and violence makes for a gritty portrait of prison life more real than HBO's acclaimed seriesOz.--Bret Fetzer