Award-winning director Petra Volpe’s English-language feature debut follows Frank (Kingsley Ben-Adir), an incarcerated man who is 20 years into a life sentence. As his next bid for parole approaches, he volunteers for an initiative that sees prisoners paired with fellow inmates suffering from major health issues like dementia. His pessimistic perspective begins to shift as he grows closer to his assigned companion, Louis (Rob Morgan), who–though initially combative and resistant–begins to find comfort and solace in the companionship. As Louis rapidly succumbs to his condition, even forgetting why he is serving time, Frank’s time with him grows more and more important.

Quiet, effective moments of contemplation and understanding are interspersed with unexpected outbursts from Louis that will ring true to many who have found themselves in similar situations. Volpe’s story (co-written with Esther Bernstorff) is based on a real Californian prison program, and her impressive and stoic leads stand-in for the countless pairs who have experienced the same emotional pull of care and survival in less than ideal circumstances.