No Rules. No Hope. No Way Out.

Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) is a mild mannered contractor who lives a quiet and happy life with his wife Laura and his son Michael. But all this is about to change!

One night while the family are sleeping they are woken to the noise of someone breaking into their home. Wade chases the thief out of the house. But as the thief is running away he reaches for Wade’s wallet to give it him back, Wade thinking he is reaching for a weapon, hits him around the head with a baseball bat inadvertently killing the thief.

Wade is subsequently sentenced to a prison sentence in one of America’s toughest prisons. Upon arriving Wade is confronted by a vicious thug and winds up fighting to protect himself. But this isn’t the end of it, Wade finds himself fighting the other dangerous prisoners every day as the guards place them in the 'shu’ where they must fight out for the guards’ amusement.

Wade must now try and find a way to let the world know what is going on at this hellhole while also learning how to protect himself. The only help Wade finds is from his ruthless multiple murderer cell-mate John Smith (Val Kilmer). Can he survive long enough to expose the prison’s brutality and will he find a friend in John?