Prison Song

Elijah Butler is introduced as a bright 10-year-old living in New York, with a hard-working mother who attends night school to become a lawyer. Her fiancé Cee, a photographer, supports the family. Cee is arrested after assaulting an officer who harassed him for taking photographs, and he ends up serving 25 to life for three consecutive charges.

One night, Elijah and his best friend Thomas Wilson are incarcerated at a juvenile correctional facility after a prank on a police officer using a laser pointer. Elijah's mother comes to retrieve him but is told he cannot be released; she is involuntarily admitted to a mental institution after stabbing an officer with a pen. Elijah visits his mother once; she is medicated and unaware.

Elijah is eventually released from the juvenile facility and placed in a foster home. The reunion attempts with his mother fail due to her condition, though they both try to connect.

Years later, Elijah is an adult and dreams of becoming an artist, supported by his girlfriend Jolie. He is offered a spot at a prestigious art school on scholarship, but the scholarship falls through and he cannot afford tuition.

After a troubling turn, he becomes involved in a confrontation with Big Pete; he accidentally pushes Pete onto subway tracks, causing his death. He is found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to fifteen years to life.

Inside prison, Elijah is reunited with Thomas and takes an art class, painting works that impress fellow inmates. However, funding cuts force the class to be discontinued.

Life in prison deteriorates as inmates are subjected to hard labor on an abandoned building, prompting Elijah to stage an uprising by setting a fire. The rebellion leads to solitary confinement.

With conditions worsening, Elijah forms a breakout plan with Thomas, Harris, KT, Brown, and Jay; Harris bails out at the last minute. The group uses a ladder to escape through a window and presses a button to open the gate.

During the breakout, Jay stabs Thomas in the back with a screwdriver out of revenge for a prior incident; Elijah goes back to help Thomas, who dies in his arms. Elijah tries to flee but is pinned by a four-wall fence and is killed by a shotgun blast while holding an officer hostage.

Sometime after prison, Elijah's drawings from his time behind bars are displayed at an art gallery. Visitors view the portraits, including a painting of Elijah and Thomas as kids, highlighting his lasting memory.

The final image centers on a painting of Elijah and Thomas as kids, as the camera lingers on their friendship and what the story left behind.