the movie tells the story of a man named Jacob Harland he was a successful stock broker living happily in California with his wife Catherine and their son Joshua one night Jacob and his wife were driving home from a party with their friends when they had a serious accident which caused one of Jacob's friends to die even though it was an accident Jacob was still held responsible because he was driving under the influence of alcohol as a result he was sentenced to 7 years in the California Institution for men in Chino Catherine found it very hard
to accept that her husband would go to prison and leave the family since Jacob had never been to prison before he felt scared especially because of the violence from other inmates and prison guards Jacob started thinking about how he could survive until his sentence was over on his first day he met a fellow inmate who seemed weak that night Jacob overheard that inmate being attacked by others Jacob quickly understood that to survive he needed to act strong and confident where he would end up like his fellow inmate who was targeted by others the next day
Jacob accidentally got into a fight with a strong prisoner because of this he was put in solitary confinement for 30 days however this Reckless act caught the attention of a man called botles who was the leader of a white supremacist gang after Jacob was released from solitary bottles recruited him into his group in exchange for protection in prison bottles demanded that Jacob work for him without much thought Jacob agreed one day Catherine visits Jacob in prison and tells him that their savings are running out she worries that soon she will need to find other ways
to make money to support herself and their son Joshua Catherine decides she will start looking for a job to earn enough money for Joshua's education meanwhile in prison Jacob starts doing different jobs for bottles when one of which is smuggling heroin without getting caught by the guards as Jacob becomes skilled at smuggling bottles gives him a more dangerous task to kill a prisoner who is suspected of being a snitch Jacob has never killed anyone before so he hesitates he isn't sure if he should follow bottle's orders or refuse but Jacob knows that if he doesn't
do it all his efforts to survive in prison might be for nothing and he could lose the protection he needs and become a target for other groups so he gathers all his courage and kills the prisoner after committing his first murder Jacob feels frustrated but he realizes that he is no other choice and will do whatever it takes to survive in prison as time passes Jacob rises in rank earning the nickname money and becomes tougher because of prison life his appearance changes too he grows a mustache and beard and his arms are covered with tattoos
making him look like a real gangster one day shotgun a prisoner who is ALS also in Jacob's gang tells him about Herman Gomez a prisoner who is actually a Mafia Boss and the leader of the serenos gang when a conflict breaks out between some of the most powerful gangs in prison Jacob is forced to get involved he sees this as a chance to earn Herman's trust when another prisoner tries to attack Herman Jacob quickly jumps in and kills the attacker right in front of Herman this may Herman feel like he owes Jacob his life and
it also earns Jacob respect from other gang leaders however Jacob's actions were recorded by surveillance cameras and because of this his sentence is extended by nine more years when Catherine hears about this she becomes even more upset Jacob feeling the weight of his situation decides to cut off all communication with his family he tells Catherine and his son to forget about him and move on with their lives without expecting him to ever be part of their lives again after this violent incident Jacob is transferred to corkran State Prison a maximum security facility for the most
dangerous criminals Jacob learns from another inmate that Redwood is the most powerful prisoner in this new prison the next day Jacob finally meets Redwood who tells him that he is only a high ranking member Redwood explains that the most respected person in this prison and even outside of it is the Beast the leader of one of the most powerful gangs in the world the Beast is kept in a separate cell from other inmates because he is considered extremely dangerous to meet the Beast Jacob deliberately starts a fight with one of the most dangerous prisoners Jacob's
effort to get the beast's attention pays off when the Beast hears that Jacob fought just to meet him he is somewhat impressed and orders a guard named Robert to bring Jacob to him even though the Beast is a prisoner he is still able to control all his men outside the prison and run his business the Beast also has a lot of influence inside the prison by bribing Robert and other guards so no one dares to challenge him impressed by Jacob's dedication the Beast promotes him to be his second in command Jacob who gets a reduced
sentence is released a few years later knowing that Jacob will be released soon the Beast orders him to arrange a weapons deal with the serenos though Jacob is hesitant to be on parole he eventually agrees after the Beast threatens his family when Jacob is released he is greeted by shotgun and several gang members who were released from prison earlier he feels relieved to finally be out and even though he had cut off contact with his family deep down he still cares about them and wishes he could be with him again shotgun then invites Jacob to
a party but suddenly there is an attack aimed at Jacob it's unclear who is behind the attack but it makes Jacob more cautious of those around him the next day Jacob meets Herman Gonzalez who has also been released from prison and they discussed the deal between the Beast and the serenos afterward Jacob secretly visits his wife and gives her some money even though Catherine tries to refuse Jacob insists she take it and then walks away even though Jacob loved his wife and son he knew he couldn't return to his family when Katherine and Joshua visit
him Jacob sends them away before the rest of the gang sees them Joshua tells his father that he doesn't understand why his dad is leaving them as he only wants to protect them from the gangsters Joshua even tries to convince his father to come back and face the danger together although Jacob wants to follow his son's wishes he knows he has to leave them to keep them safe because the gangsters won't let him go after a heartfelt meeting with his family and feeling emotional about how much his son has grown without him Jacob starts planning
a way to end everything so that his family will no longer be in danger meanwhile Jacob's parole officer Ed cutcher finds out about the weapons deal Jacob made with the serenos it turns out that shotgun who was jealous of Jacob's success in becoming the Beast second in command leaked the information to cutcher however Jacob already knew that shotgun was behind the earlier attack on him so he kills shotgun and takes his phone Jacob discovers that shotgun was hiding some weapons to sell them later for more profit on the day of the deal with Herman and
the serenos Jacob uses shotguns phone to send the coordinates of the meeting after receiving the message the police and SWAT team rush in leading to a shootout Jacob is then captured by the police and sent back to prison after everything is reviewed Jacob is sentenced to life in prison without parole he also refuses cutcher offer to testify against the beast in exchange for a full pardon because it would put his family in danger Jacob is sent back to corkran State Prison the Beast realizing that Jacob was behind the attack and the failed deal threatens to
kill Jacob's family for disobeying orders but Jacob had planned ahead before returning to prison he had hidden a razor blade and stolen the keys to his handcuffs from the guards the next day the Beast threatens to kill Jacob's wife and son in a very cruel way as revenge for Jacob's betrayal when Robert the guard comes to release Jacob from his cell Jacob attacks him and forces him to hand over the key to the Beast cell after getting the key Jacob locks Robert in his own cell and opens the Beast cell Jacob and the Beast fight
and Jacob finally wins by killing the Beast with a razor he had prepared earlier Jacob then tells Robert to testify that he acted in self-defense and offers him a bigger reward which Robert agrees to with the Beast dead Jacob becomes the most dangerous and respected inmate in the prison he also takes the Beast place as one of the most powerful gang leaders in the world now that his family's safety is assured Jacob receives a life sentence and tells Kutcher where to find the remaining weapons later Jacob re receives a letter from Joshua saying that he
and his mother are living a happy and successful life and that they have forgiven him Jacob is deeply moved when he sees pictures of his old life with his family he realizes that sacrificing his own freedom to kill the Beast was the only way to keep his family safe from his enemies so the moral of the story is if you ever find yourself in prison maybe skip the career and finance and avoid making new friends because apparently it only takes one bad decision to become a tattooed Kingpin with a lifetime subscription to prison life
