Prison of Secrets

This is a broadcast TV movie of the week version of a women's prison film.

It has the usual premise. The female protagonist is a "nice" woman. It is a genre rule that the protagonist is completely innocent, or a dupe, and this film has only a slight twist. She was a white collar criminal who didn't even know that what she was doing was illegal. She's dragged out of her suburban home and her PTA meetings to do some hard time with some tough-ass criminals, abusive guards, etc. They take a lot of showers, are abused by the guards, and sell themselves for money and drugs.

DVD info from Amazon.

bare-bones, no widescreen version

All of which makes you wonder why you should watch it.

The filmmakers did add some rewarding moral lesson about how she managed to turn over evidence of abuse by the guards, and how all the tough-ass gals cried when the state sent her back home to the PTA. They also claimed that it was based on a true story.

The Critics Vote

no reviews online

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 6.7, based on only 21 votes. Should be about 4.0

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is an E. No reason to watch it. All the genre cliches, with none of the gratuitous nudity or other exploitation features.