YMMV / Shot Caller

• Awesome Moments: Jacob engineers his own reincarceration so he can personally assassinate the Beast to prevent any retaliation against his wife and son.
  Jacob: No one hurts my family.
• Complete Monster: "The Beast", real name Jerry Manning, is the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood in an unnamed Californian prison, engaged in drug smuggling and murder among several other crimes. Ordering one of his lieutenants, Redwood, to bloodily murder one of the guards as a display of his power, an act for which Redwood is sent to Death Row, the Beast promotes Jacob "Money" Harlon to take his place. Ordering Jacob to oversee the selling of military-grade weaponry to the Sonora Cartel on the outside, Jacob instead sabotages the deal so he can go back to prison to confront him. The Beast orders Jacob's family to be killed, then fights Jacob himself to the death without hesitation.
• Do Not Do This Cool Thing: It's a tragedy about how prison destroys a man's soul... But the cinematography is beautiful, the fights are thrilling, the score is haunting, and the protagonist changes from a bland, vanilla finance bro to a terrifying badass.
• Iron Woobie: Jacob sees his entire life destroyed in front of him after he gets sentenced to prison and falls deep into the criminal world to defend himself in the process, but he takes it like a man. Never once does he truly complain as he sacrifices himself for his family.
• Magnificent Bastard: Jacob "Money" Harlon was once a Family Man with a promising career who is incarcerated after killing his best friend in a drunk driving accent. Joining the Aryan Brotherhood for protection, Jacob spends a decade climbing the ranks of the organization. Their leader, the Beast, orders Jake to oversee a major weapons deal with the Sonora Cartel once he's out of prison by threatening his family. Jacob stays several steps ahead of the authorities attempting to track him down and exposes, then kills, a police informant. Jacob sabotages the deal on his own accord in order to be sent back to prison to confront and replace the Beast. Jacob does not share the racist ideology of his fellow gang members, instead being driven by a desire to protect himself and his loved ones.
• One-Scene Wonder: Bottles is a fairly minor character but a very memorable one.

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