Time

Interested in prison reform, income inequality, racial injustice or examining the systemic issues present in America's criminal justice system? The 2020 documentary film "Time" is an intimate exploration of all these themes and more. Directed by Garrett Bradley, this Sundance Film Festival sensation is a poignant exploration of love, resilience, and perseverance against unbearable odds.

Starring Fox Rich (Sibil Fox Richardson), Robert G. Richardson, and their son Mahlik Richardson, "Time" presents the stories of real people dealing with real traumas. It's not a movie about actors playing characters, but a window into the lives of a family striving to reassemble the broken pieces of their world. Their tears, smiles, anger, hopes, and dreams shape the narrative in a visceral and strikingly human manner.

The film takes a compelling examination of the American prison system through the eyes of a woman on a tireless crusade to release her husband from incarceration. Fox Rich, a successful entrepreneur, prison abolitionist and mother of six boys, has spent the last two decades campaigning for the release of her husband, Rob, who is serving a 60-year prison sentence for a robbery the couple committed in the early 90s in a moment of desperation.

"Time" unfolds an emotional journey filled with resilience, depicting an unwavering battle against a system that defines individuals by their worst mistakes. Through this film, Fox becomes a beacon of strength, powering through challenges and uncompromising societal constraints. Bradley uses her lens skillfully to shed light on personal and systemic aspects of incarceration, creating an in-depth portrait of a family severely impacted.

The film blends the past and the present through a treasure trove of home video footage, shot by Fox over the years. These footages, coupled with contemporary scenes, paint a dual timeline that magnifies the passage of time and the personal toll of incarceration. Witnessing Fox's transformation from a young woman living in the shadow of her husband's absence to an inspirational advocate fighting for her family, viewers cannot help but be moved by her strength and dedication.

Meanwhile, her husband, Rob, forms a silent central figure in the narrative, a haunting presence whose absence permeates every moment. He exists in the old home videos, in phone calls from prison, and through the profound impact his imprisonment has on Fox and their children.

The six boys, themselves, growing up with a single photo of their dad, also take a stand. The eldest, Freedom, and his brothers forge their path through life with unyielding grit and grace under their mother's guidance. Amidst the chaos, they preserve their innocence, even as their growth implicitly underlines the immense duration of Rob's imprisonment.

"Time" is a unique documentary that expresses the crushing magnitude of the prison sentence and the rippling effects it has on the family left behind. More so, it's a dialogue on America's prison industrial complex, presenting an urgent and powerful indictment of the inhumanity of long-term sentences and how they can irreparably harm families.

The movie manages to be a testament to maternal strength and how nurture and love can press humanity through the grimmest periods. It subtly demonstrates how Fox - while empowered, brave, and steadfast - also suffers from the gratuitous prolongation of her husband's release. Yet, she remains hopeful, exerting herself to keep her family together and to keep fighting for her husband's freedom.

Bradley's "Time" is a beautiful, unflinching documentary that is both deeply intimate and grand in scope. By presenting the personal implications of the drastically flawed US justice system, it becomes a call to arms, persuasively arguing for reform and the consideration of each person's capacity for change.

In 81 engrossing minutes, "Time" creates a palpable, personal exploration of the effects of mass incarceration on American families, touches on themes of resilience, endurance, and hope in the face of adversity, and investigates the human capacity for redemption. Be prepared for a compelling cinematic journey – a striking mix of heartbreak, hope, and the triumph of the human spirit.