Alabama Solution, The: Andrew Jarecki’s Searing Docu about Stystemic Abuse Within Prisons,(One of Best Films)

Andrew Jarecki’s most powerful film since Capturing the Friedmans offers a cinema-verite exposé of the inhuman conditions of the American prison system.

The title refers to a phrase by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, who insisted the state could “address” its prison problems without federal intervention.

Shot over five years, in the Easterling Correctional Facility, Southeast Alabama, it’s a scalding portrait of life on the inside that becomes a murder mystery.

Following in the footsteps of films like “Attica,” “13th,” and “The Farm: Angola, USA,” Jarecki reveals a state sanctified lawlessness, much of it chronicled by the prisoners on contraband cell phones.

The way the movie dissects layers of a cover-up becomes as dramatic and suspenseful as the crimes it’s about.