The 2010 film Dog Pound is a disturbing and rather sad film but that really shouldn’t be a surprise, since it deals with the American justice system.  Even more specifically, it deals with the juvenile justice system and portrays, in exacting detail, how a mere juvenile delinquent can be transformed into a hardened criminal.

The film opens with three teenagers being either sentenced or transferred to the (fictional) Enola Vale Juvenile Detention Center in Montana.  Enola Vale is the type of place where the walls are covered with inspiring but ultimately empty-headed slogans.  It’s the type of place that claims to teach young offenders the importance of self-respect and respecting authority but ultimately, all it does is teach them how to be better criminals.  The staff is largely portrayed as being well-meaning but ineffectual.  Not only are they incapable of controlling their prisoners but they also remain oblivious to much of what is going on inside the prison.  The real power is held by the prisoners who have managed to reach the rank of trustee.  If you stay out of trouble long enough, you can become a trustee.  And then, of course, you can do whatever you want to whomever you want…

The three newest prisoners are a mixed bunch.  One can take one look at 15 year-old Angel (Mateo Morales) and 16 year-old Davis (Shane Kippel, best known for playing Spinner Mason on Degrassi) and tell immediately that neither one of them is tough enough to survive inside.  Angel is a non-violent car thief.  Davis is a drug dealer and something of a momma’s boy.

And then there’s Butch (Adam Butcher).  Butch is 17 years-old and he’s been transferred to Enola Vale from another facility.  Butch attacked an officer at the previous facility, gouging out the man’s eyes.  The angry Butch may be dangerous but he’s also the best friend that Angel and Davis could hope for.  When the three of them find themselves being targeted by a sadistic trustee named Banks (Taylor Poulin), Butch is the one who eventually ends up beating Banks nearly to death.  With Butch now the most feared prisoner at Enola Vale, Davis and Angel are safe.

Or, at least, they are until Butch witnesses a frustrated guard kill a prisoner.  While the death is being investigated, Butch is put into solitary confinement, leaving his friends at the mercy of the other prisoners…

Dog Pound is a dark and harrowing look at the juvenile justice system, one that challenges the popular belief that incarceration is always the best (and only) solution.  In fact, Dog Pound makes the argument that maybe — just maybe — automatically tossing non-violent offenders in with violent offenders may not be the ideal way to deal with delinquency.  That may sound like simple common sense but this is America and we love the idea of “lockin’ people up and throwin’ away the key.”  If the film’s plot occasionally seems to wander without any clear direction, that’s because these are characters who literally have nowhere to go.  They may only be teenagers but their lives are pretty much over.  The film’s episodic nature captures the pitiless randomness of their own existence.  The few scenes in which they actually get to behave like regular teenagers are poignant precisely because they are so rare.

Dog Pound is a well-directed and acted film, featuring especially strong work from Adam Butcher and Shane Kippel.  Reportedly, many of the smaller roles were played by actual inmates and they add a disturbing and, at times, heart-breaking authenticity to this film.  Show Dog Pound to anyone who is fond of saying that “bad kids” need to be “scared straight” and taught to “respect authority.”  At a time when many people seem to be increasingly comfortable with the idea of a police state, Dog Pound is a film that needs to be seen.