After his acclaimed directorial debut with 'Trees Lounge', cult actor Steve Buscemi has helmed a stunning portrayal of life behind bars...

Naïve 21 year old Ron Decker (Furlong) has had all of life's advantages but now he's been condemned to 10 years behind bars for drug trafficking. Sent to a maximum security prison, Decker is immediately thrown into a harsh, unrelenting world of race riots, stabbings and gang brutality- where a lone youth doesn't stand a chance of surviving.

He knows he must find an ally to protect him- and he soon be-friends the undisputed king of the gaol- lifer Earl Copen (Dafoe). But what will the cost of this friendship be?. Like 'The Shawshank Redemption' before it, this is a starkly harrowing account of corruption, violence and lost innocence.

Based on ex-con Ed Bunker's hit novel of life in prison, 'Animal Factory' features a star studded ensemble cast including Academy Award(r) nominee Willem Dafoe (Platoon, The English Patient), Edward Furlong (American History X), John Heard (TV's The Sopranos), Tom Arnold (True Lies) and Mickey Rourke in a role like you've never seen him before as "Jan, the Transexual".