Movie review
September 23, 2017 · 132 min · NR
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Brawl in Cell Block 99.
Woke representation / casting
Lead cast is predominantly white with natural supporting diversity in a prison setting; no audience-visible signaling, mismatched roles, or DEI emphasis in marketing or choices.
Woke political dialogue
Dialogue features gritty, crude language and slurs that some left critics called out as problematic, but serves character and story realism with zero activist or social-justice messaging.
Identity-driven story themes
Core narrative is a man’s desperate defense of his pregnant wife and unborn child through loyalty and violence; traditional family protector themes with no race, gender, sexuality, or identity politics.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Prisons and criminals shown as brutal and corrupt through personal stakes and survival, not modern activist framing of systemic racism, patriarchy, toxic masculinity, or colonial guilt.
Review
Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a 2017 neo-noir action thriller written and directed by S. Craig Zahler. Vince Vaughn stars as Bradley Thomas, a laid-off mechanic and former boxer who turns to drug running, lands in prison after a bust, and must commit extreme violence in a maximum-security facility to save his pregnant wife from a cartel threat. The film delivers a gritty, old-school prison revenge story centered on family protection, loyalty, and brutal personal survival with no visible woke, identity-driven, or social-justice elements in story, casting, dialogue, or marketing.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant (original screenplay with no source material, historical figures, or established characters altered for identity reasons).
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No right-leaning or anti-woke complaints that the film pushes DEI, identity politics, or left messaging; progressive criticism instead targeted its violence and language as too conservative.
Creator track record context
S. Craig Zahler self-describes as right of center with films often labeled conservative by critics; other key crew show no left-leaning or identity-driven patterns and some right-leaning associations.
Production
