Prison 77

Taking place from 1976 to 1978,^[3] during the so-called Transition, the plot is inspired by the real attempted prison break from the Barcelona's Cárcel Modelo attempted by 45 inmates in 1978, after a rebellion led by the COPEL [ca] (Coordinadora de Presos En Lucha).^[4] The fiction follows two of the prisoners, José Pino and Manuel, an aged inmate who has passed through several prisons and a young accounting assistant who has just entered the prison, respectively.^[5]

The screenplay was co-written by the director Alberto Rodríguez alongside his customary scribe Rafael Cobos.^[9] The film is a Movistar Plus+ and Atípica Films production.^[10] The crew featured other recurring Alberto Rodríguez' collaborators such as Álex Catalán (cinematographer), Pepe Domínguez del Olmo (art director), José G. Moyano [ca] (editing) and Julio de la Rosa [es] (composer).^[9]

Filming started in Barcelona on 2 August 2021, using the actual Cárcel Modelo [es] as shooting location.^[11][8] The first phase of filming was completed in late August 2021.^[9] Production then moved for the second and final phase to the province of Seville, wrapping on 4 October 2021.^[9][12]

Prison 77 screened out of competition as the opening film of the 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival on 16 September 2022.^[6][13] Distributed by Buena Vista International, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 23 September 2022.^[9] It had an in-year gross of €2.1 million.^[14] It will later be released on Movistar Plus+.^[9] It also made it to the 'World Cinema' section of 27th Busan International Film Festival.^[15] The film was invited to the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival (screening on 18 December 2022)^[16] as well as to the 27th International Film Festival of Kerala.^[17] TelevisaUnivision obtained rights to the film in Mexico, the United States, and Latin America, with a streaming debut on Vix+ scheduled for 22 March 2023.^[18]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.0/10.^[19]

Andrea G. Bermejo of Cinemanía rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, concluding that some of the best performances of the year are present in the film, with the entire cast being "in deep communion with the story they want to tell".^[20]

Raquel Hernández Luján of HobbyConsolas rated it with 80 out of 100 points ("very good"), deeming the film to be "respectful of the harsh reality it portrays and at the same time [it] manages to take the story out of the corset of prison dramas".^[21]

Àlex Montoya of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars praising the "rigor and critical thinking at the service of entertainment, or vice versa. And the cast. All of it".^[22]

Fionnuala Halligan of ScreenDaily considered that the film features a Hunger-like depiction of "horrible injustice", displaying "a striking camera-work and fantastic costuming [that] can only hold the eye for so long as beating follows beating".^[3]

The film appeared on a number of critics' top ten lists of the best Spanish films of 2022:

• List of Spanish films of 2022