The System (2022)

Terry Lamont Savage is a highly decorated US Army soldier, who has served with distinction in conflict zones across the world. Now, out of the army, he has been abandoned by the system. He's an impoverished man with a young daughter who has a serious medical condition for which he cannot afford treatment.

Hence, he has chosen a life of crime to make ends meet. Following a drug bust, he is arrested and is looking forward to a 10-year prison sentence. This is when the police commissioner of the city in which he was caught gives him a lifeline. A corporate-backed, private prison, Degnan Correctional Facility, has been on the commissioner's watch because of its shady nature and the clandestine dealings in the place. The Warden there is a highly powerful man who runs the place with impunity, aided by guards who are all ex-military. If Terry goes into Degnan as an inmate, working undercover for the Commissioner to bring him proof of corruption and human rights violations inside the place, he won't have to serve his sentence. Terry agrees, knowing that to be a better solution than anything else at hand. Degnan is a quintessential 'hellhole'. The guards are brutal, inmates divide themselves into gangs, there are inter-gang rivalries and no new inmate is safe from getting hazed. Terry is secretly provided with a cellphone by the Commissioner, accessible only by him and through which he is to contact him and send him proof of what goes on inside. Terry is a lone wolf who refuses to join any gang. One day, he's attacked by members of an Aryan Brotherhood in the prison where he manages to fend them off with help from a stranger. Following a stay in solitary confinement, Degnan is informed about 'The Dungeon' and that the Warden wants him to participate in it. The Dungeon is an underground fighting ring where prisoners are made to fight against each other. It's a brainchild of the Warden who admits to having created it for entertaining himself in his otherwise dull job. There are no rules and fighters can get as ruthless as they wish in their matches. A good fighter in The Dungeon gains respect. The best fighter gets the title of the 'top dog', who is untouchable by inmates and guards alike. The top dog is also a close associate of the Warden. When Terry first arrives in Degnan, it is Freeway who is the reigning top dog. In the case of Freeway, he maintains law and order amongst the rest of the inmates through his gang and in turn is exempt from the penalties the other inmates are subjected to when they transgress. To train Terry for fighting in The Dungeon, the stranger who helped him, Bones, volunteers. Bones is the son of a martial arts grandmaster and learned how to fight from his father himself. He also trained Freeway in the past and wants to help Terry because he reminds him of a young man he once knew. The Dungeon itself is a completely illicit activity that is run under the Warden's watch. As it turns out, the other prisons that are run by the same private organization as Degnan, have their own fighting competitions similar to The Dungeon. This in turn has created a gambling network as the top dogs of these prisons fight against each other for large wagers and the winning fighter's Warden gets to keep that money. Along with The Dungeon, the Warden is also running a narcotics business, dealing in marijuana, cocaine, and PEDs. The workshop where it's packed and sent out from is worked entirely by prisoners of Degnan, made to labor there for free. After Terry becomes the top dog, he is given the offer to get a share in the profits from this business, the first time for someone in his position. In the drug bust that got Terry arrested, he took down multiple members of a gang with his bare hands. It's established then and there that Terry is an exceptionally strong fighter. When we find out that the Commissioner and the Warden are friends and that Terry was never really working undercover, the conspiracy behind his term at Degnan is laid open. Terry was never sent there as a mole by the Commissioner but to establish himself as the top dog in The Dungeon. The Commissioner had full faith in Terry's abilities and even placed a bet with the Warden that he would become their best fighter. With Terry as their top dog, they can put him in matches against other top fighters from different prisons in their network and make a lot of money from the winnings. Terry was never going to get a pardon and his movement up the ladder in The Dungeon cemented the indefinite period of his stay at Degnan. Terry plans a coup with other inmates and uses those who work in the narcotics workshop to record the activities there, which isn't shown onscreen. Before the coup's execution on the day he is to fight against the Aurora Correctional Facility's top dog, he hands over the memory card with incriminating evidence against the Warden and the Commissioner to Janette Johnson. She uses it to get the authorities involved and the DEA comes into the mix because of the narcotics ring that is being operated out of Degnan. When the inmates revolt during Terry's fight, DEA officers in riot gear arrive at just the right moment to catch not one, but two wardens from a connected network of prisons, presiding over an illegal fighting contest. The Warden and the Commissioner get arrested and Terry's evidence gets him a full pardon from his prison sentence. The medical costs of his daughter's treatment are taken up by the State as well, meaning he will not have to return to a life of crime. The excesses of the Warden of Degnan and what went on inside make a case for Congress to intervene in the functioning of privately-owned prisons and regulate their activities. Terry gets released from prison, walks out as a hero, and reunites with his daughter. He keeps his promise to Bones and Freeway by sending Janette as their lawyer to get them out of prison. (thanks to highonfilms)