The meaningful violence of ‘Brawl in Cell Block 99’
In the realm of contemporary cinema, S. Craig Zahler’s 2017 sophomore film Brawl in Cell Block 99 stands as an unflinching and brutally violent indictment of the American dream. Following the desperate descent of a blue-collar worker turned drug runner, the movie transforms a crime thriller into a broader meditation on the human condition while masterfully presenting graphic violence in a way that’s as thought-provoking as it is shocking. But let’s get one thing straight — it is shocking.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 centres on Bradley Thomas, in a magnificent and refreshing serious turn from comedy-veteran Vince Vaughn. After losing his job, Bradley is a former boxer who spirals into the world of drug trafficking to make ends meet. Reluctantly reaching out to old acquaintances, hinting at a less-than-squeaky-clean history, he’s able to attach himself to an upcoming job — acting as a courier for a drug deal. As you’d expect, however, the deal goes south. When Bradley finds himself in the middle of a gunfight against the police, his patriotism outweighs his allegiance to the criminals, and he turns his guns on his partners in a bid to protect the cops. Despite his admirable change of heart, once the dust settles, it’s only Bradley and the police remaining, and with a smoking gun still in hand, he’s thrown in jail.
Refusing to share any names, he’s sentenced to seven years in a medium-security prison. However, his problems have only just begun; associates of Eleazar, the man whose drugs have been confiscated in the raid, visit him in his cell and inform him that the drug lord is deeply unhappy with how events have played out. He’s so unhappy, in fact, that he has a specific task he wants Bradley to do, and if Bradley doesn’t do it, his wife and unborn child will be “surgically taken apart” and their separate parts mailed to him. Suffice to say, this is motivation enough for Bradley, who agrees to the mission — to kill an inmate in the titular Cell Block 99.
The problem is, the inmate isn’t of Bradley’s prison; he’s locked up in Redleaf, a maximum security prison halfway across the country. In order to get himself transferred to the prison so that he can assassinate his target, Bradley must perpetrate some of the most gruelling and eye-watering violence against inmates and guards alike. And that is, effectively, what the film is; much like a video game, Bradley must fight dozens upon dozens of people, progressing to the next level and the next level until he reaches Cell Block 99.
At the heart of the film, however, is the infamous ‘Face Drag’ scene, which is a moment of violence so raw, visceral and bone-crunching that it will leave you flinching long after the film has finished.
The ‘Face Drag’ scene
Having got himself moved to Redleaf prison after maiming and murdering his way through his previous penitentiary, Bradley discovers that there is more (or much, much less, depending on how you look at it) to his mission than meets the eye. It turns out that he’s been put on a wild goose chase. There’s a fantastic twist that won’t be spoiled here, but long story short, Bradley gets a new mission; execute anybody he needs to ensure the safety of his pregnant wife. This mission eventually leads him to a cell of about five or so associates of Eleazar. Their plan is to torture him. His plan is to leave the room as the only man standing. And what better way to kick things off than stomping on a man’s head and using your foot to drag their face across the concrete?
Zahler’s commitment to authenticity extended to the portrayal of violence. In an interview, Zahler mentioned, “What I wanted to do with the violence in this movie was to make it have an impact every time”. And he certainly achieved this goal.
The ‘Face Drag’ scene, while challenging to watch (that’s putting it lightly), underscores Bradley’s character’s desperation and unyielding determination. The brutality in Brawl in Cell Block 99 is not for gratuitous shock value; instead, it serves a distinct narrative purpose. So, after repeatedly stomping, crunching, dragging and then flipping to reveal a man’s flattened face with his white skull exposed, Bradley isn’t doing it because he’s a sadist. He’s doing it to scare the other men and let them know that he won’t rest until his wife’s safety is guaranteed.
The violence, in all its graphic intensity, is a form of communication – a primal language that Bradley, as a former boxer, understands and uses to assert dominance and control in a hostile environment. In Zahler’s words, “In many ways, the violence in the film, as extreme as it is, is an expression of the protagonist’s character and where he is at that point in his life”. Moreover, the violence in Brawl in Cell Block 99 also underscores the inherent contradictions within Bradley.
Despite his unwavering moral compass, his passion for his country, and his instinct to protect the innocent and the vulnerable, he’s also a man with a particularly savage streak. He’s trying to do right in a world where right and wrong have become blurred, and so his ‘righting of wrongs’ often comes across as very wrong. This paradox makes the character so intriguing, and the violence, the ‘Face Drag’ scene in particular, best encapsulates this dichotomy.
