Life on AllMovie

Set within an Australian prison in a section reserved for AIDS-infected inmates, this moving but unsentimental drama, based on screenwriter/lead actor John Brumpton's 1991 play Containment, centers on the friendship and bonding that goes on between the afflicted patients. Former nightclub bouncer Des is the newest prisoner in the HIV block. He says he got the disease from Sharon, a club stripper. His new cellmate Ralph blames a blood transfusion for his illness. As Des (who is also epileptic) begins to get to know Ralph and the others, the story moves between present and past, before he was convicted. In the present, Des has trouble with a particularly cruel guard, Berwick. Other acquaintances include the tragic Snakey who watches his lover Jimmy slowly die. Ralph is also dying fairly quickly. The flashback scenes deal with Des' relationship to Sharon and Ralph's relationship with his girl friend Jane.