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.
In 2019, Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman visited Easterling Correctional Facility to film a religious revival meeting. During the visit, incarcerated men approached them off-camera with accounts of abuse and systemic failures within the prison.
This began a six-year investigation, during which incarcerated men used contraband cell phones to document conditions, while interacting with the filmmakers.
The documentary focuses on the death of Steven Davis, incarcerated man beaten to death by prison guards. The film follows Davis’s mother, Sandy Ray, seeking answers about son’s death.
The feature also profiles incarcerated activists Robert Earl Council and Melvin Ray, who co-founded the Free Alabama Movement and organized protests from within the system.
Participants
Robert Earl Council (aka “Kinetik Justice”), co-founder of the Free Alabama Movement, serving life sentence for murder
Melvin Ray (aka “Bennu Hannibal Ra-Sun”), co-founder of the Free Alabama Movement
Raoul Poole
Sandy Ray, Steven Davis’s mother
| The Alabama Solution | |
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Release poster
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Credits:
Produced, directed by Andrew Jarecki, Charlotte Kaufman
Written by Jarecki, Kaufman, Page Marsella
Cinematography Nicholas Kraus
Edited by Page Marsella
Music by Mark Batson, Chris Hanebutt
Production: HBO Documentary Films
Distributed by HBO
Release dates: Jan 28, 2025 (Sundance) Oct 10, 2025 (US)
Running time: 115 minutes





