This film has a political agenda, one I happen to agree with. That is, there's something wrong with juvenile detention facilities that are de facto concentration camps, that have no legal oversight or laws pertaining to them and where many young men have died over the last thirty years and whose only justification for this legal carte blanche is that the parents are the ones "sentencing" their kids there. The torture is certainly disturbing. But unlike one of the reviewers, I don't see much in the way of character development here. And while the young actor--who is the spitting image of Ryan Gosling (he even _acts_ like him)--does a good job; he develops along very predictable lines. The other characters are fundamentally flat, especially the Colonel who remains a cipher throughout the film: we never learn really why he's such an asshole or what he thinks about his own asshole behavior. Character development for him turns out to be drinking more in the film's third act and fondling his pistol with suicidal thoughts. The film ends very disturbingly and certainly leaves a mark, as it were. But the final confrontation between Brad and the Colonel is absolutely wordless and without much depth--a problem with much of the film. I think it won at the film festivals for the disturbing violence yoked to its liberal politics, not for its storytelling.

Apparently, there was a youth boys camp for juvenile delinquents somewhere in a rural part of California where there was very little oversight. It was run by an uber-macho ex-Marine who gets off on abusing young men.

The main character, Brad Junders (P. J. Boudousque), was taken to the camp known as Coldwater in the middle of the night to the defeated cries of his mother. She felt like she couldn't handle him anymore. When he got to Coldwater it seemed like a standard rehabilitation camp--a boot camp style environment with a lot of yelling and no luxuries. It seemed proper for the malcontents that were sent there.

It wasn't long before we see that the boot camp was more than just running many miles, chopping wood, and saying "sir" to those in charge. The drill sergeant, Col. Frank Reichert (James C. Burns), and his sentinels were physically abusing the teens. One kid was hit by an ATV when he fell during their daily run. Instead of giving him the proper care, they denied him proper care until he ended up losing his leg. A couple of suits came by with pens and paper to make check marks and pretend to be concerned, but no sooner than they left the abuse began again.

Something had to give.

Eventually, the kids went Lord of the Flies on the staff and killed them all. It didn't take a psychology professor to conclude that young men who were being abused were going to revolt the first real opportunity they got. I hate to say that it gave me great pleasure to see them exact revenge.

As for the Colonel, Brad took care of him. Brad pieced together that the Colonel killed his friend and fellow inmate, Gabe Nunez (Chris Petrovski), when he tried to escape. Nunez was carrying with him documented evidence of his abuse. If he could've gotten it to the authorities, maybe they would've shut down Coldwater. He never made it and Brad made the Colonel pay.

The movie concluded with this closing message:

"There are dozens of teenage deaths on record in state run and private U. S. juvenile rehabilitation facilities since 1980. The actual number of fatalities is unknown.

There are currently no federal laws that define or regulate American owned and operated juvenile rehabilitation centers."

I don't know if this is true or not, but I don't doubt it. "Coldwater" is good for one reason--it made me sympathize with the troublemakers. I started watching thinking that they deserved the harsh treatment they were getting for being violent, criminal punks. I finished the movie thinking that Coldwater, its staff, and the suits that check up on it were all tools and I wanted to see the whole thing burn.

Free on IMDb TV.