The true story film, A Prayer Before Dawn, featuring Joe Cole (known from Peaky Blinders and Gangs of London), is currently a hit on UK Netflix. It’s now the third most popular movie on the streaming service, according to FlixPatrol.
In the 2018 movie, Cole plays Billy Moore, a British boxer and drug user who gets arrested in Thailand. While imprisoned in a brutal jail, he endures terrible experiences that take a heavy toll on his mental well-being.
To overcome his personal struggles, Billy takes up boxing and eventually competes in a national Muay Thai tournament while still in prison. Despite facing incredibly difficult times, he starts to feel hopeful about the future, but it remains to be seen if he can truly find peace.
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The movie stars local actors Panya Yimmumphai and Vithaya Pansringarm and is based on the true story told in Billy Moore’s memoir, A Prayer Before Dawn: My Nightmare in Thailand’s Prisons. Moore himself also makes a brief appearance in the film.
The drama, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and written by Jonathan Hirschbein and Nick Saltrese, received high praise from critics when it came out. Currently, 92% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given it a positive review, based on 64 reviews.
Both RogerEbert.com and the Los Angeles Times praised A Prayer Before Dawn, though RogerEbert.com noted it was intense and not for the faint of heart. The Los Angeles Times called it a powerfully moving and surprisingly hopeful story.
Despite the intense action and the hero’s difficult situation, the film explores complex ideas about forgiveness and making amends, according to Empire Magazine. Variety also highlighted the actor’s incredibly energetic and physically demanding performance as the lead.
The performance was fully immersive and felt completely genuine, according to The Independent. Little White Lies called it a breakout role for the actor, predicting it would launch their career.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s crime thriller, The Rip, currently holds the #2 spot on Netflix’s UK film chart. Meanwhile, the romantic comedy People We Meet on Vacation remains popular, staying at #5 two weeks after it first became available.
A Prayer Before Dawn is streaming on Netflix.
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2026-01-24 02:49