The jailhouse-picture has a very long, honourable history – but few examples of the genre have ever hit as hard as this – gripping from low-key opening to convention-smashing climax. Filmed in a notorious real-life slammer near Copenhagen and featuring fearsome squadrons of ex-con extras, The Village Voice described R as claustrophobic and rank with testosterone and gym-sweat, a smothering lesson in prison-yard pecking order.