Lion’s Den

Julia, a young university student, awakens to find her hands covered in blood. Unable to explain its presence, she cleans herself up and heads off to class. But, upon returning home, she finds her boyfriend, dead of knife wounds, and his seriously wounded gay lover. When the police arrive, Julia is the one who is arrested. As the trial ensues, she tries to use her pregnancy as her defense to stay out of jail. Still, she is sent to a halfway house prison, the LION'S DEN, specifically for pregnant inmates. In the tradition of women's prison movies, life for Julia is no easy ride behind bars. As time unfolds in the prison and as Julia awaits her trial, she moves from having very little interest in her unborn child to developing a fiercely protective maternal bond with the baby, Tomas. Julia's absentee mother arrives to take Tomas and care for him but Julia does not trust her domineering ways. Ultimately, Julia is sentenced to eight years in a real prison with the unacceptable consequence of losing Tomas. Befriending fellow prison-mate Marta, together they plan a plot to free Julia in order to have a new life with Tomas. Freedom is but a nail-biting trip away. – C.C.P.