Jacob Harlon is a successful stockbroker living with his wife, Katherine, and son Joshua, in California. One night, he drives his wife and their friends home under the influence and causes a collision which kills one of his friends. After taking a plea deal, Jacob is sentenced to 16 months at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
On his first night inside, Harlon overhears the gang rape of a fellow inmate and decides his only chance at survival is to go on the offensive. The next day, he stands his ground and attacks an African-American inmate when provoked. This draws the attention of Bottles, the "shot caller" for the white supremacist gang PENI, who recruits Harlon into the gang, offering protection. Over time, Harlon rises in rank, obtains the alias "Money", and grows even more hardened by prison life. During a riot, he stabs another inmate to save the life of the head of the Sureños, earning him respect from other gang leaders, but is caught on camera and sentenced to nine years (to run concurrently to his original sentence). Harlon then ceases all contact with his family, demanding that they move on and forget him. Harlon is eventually transferred to Corcoran State Prison where he is introduced to "The Beast", the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood there. Impressed with Harlon's dedication, The Beast promotes him to his second-in-command.
As he is set to be released, Harlon is ordered by The Beast to orchestrate a weapons deal with the Sureños. Harlon is hesitant as he will be on parole, but relents after The Beast threatens his family. Upon release, he is greeted by "Shotgun" and other gang members, including Howie, a young Afghanistan war veteran with no criminal record. Harlon survives an attack at a party and orders Howie to answer to no one but him.
Harlon's parole officer Ed Kutcher is dealing with the physical and emotional trauma from a recent shootout he was involved in. Kutcher is tipped off about the weapons deal and places Harlon under surveillance. Harlon also discovers that Shotgun is Kutcher's informant. After Harlon transfers his finances to his wife, she brings Joshua to meet him against his wishes, and he has a brief emotional breakdown. On the day of the deal, Harlon evades his surveillance and kills Shotgun at his home. Kutcher finds Shotgun dead and discovers his cellphone has a message about the pending gun deal. After meeting the Sureños, Harlon texts their coordinates to Shotgun's cellphone. Realizing that Shotgun hid more weapons to sell himself, Harlon warns Howie to leave the criminal life and forces him out of their vehicle. As the deal closes, the police, ATF, and SWAT—alerted by Harlon's text—surround the gangs; only Howie escapes, watching from a distance and realizing Harlon saved his life.
Fully validated, Harlon is sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. He turns down Kutcher's offer to testify against The Beast in exchange for a full pardon. Harlon is returned to Corcoran where The Beast, having learned Harlon alerted authorities about the raid, tells him his family will be killed. Harlon anticipated The Beast's reaction and concealed a handcuff key and a razor blade on his body. He frees himself and after a brief fight outside of The Beast's cell, Harlon cuts The Beast's jugular vein and kills him. He orders a prison guard to report that he acted in self-defense. He then assumes The Beast's place as gang leader.
With his family's safety secured, Harlon accepts his life sentence and notifies Kutcher about the remaining weapons. He receives a letter from Joshua, explaining that he and Katherine are moving on, living a successful and happy life, and that he has forgiven his father. Harlon is moved emotionally as he looks at pictures of his former life with his family, and accepts that sacrificing his own freedom to kill The Beast was the only way he could protect his family.
On April 9, 2015, Bold Films came on board to fully finance and produce the crime thriller film Shot Caller, to be directed by Ric Roman Waugh, based on his own script.[12]Participant Media developed the project, while Participant's Jonathan King produced, along with Michel Litvak and Matthew Rhodes of Bold Films, and Waugh.[12] In April 2015, Relativity Media acquired the U.S. rights to the film for $3 million with a wide release commitment, and Sierra/Affinity was on board to handle international sales.[4] Since Relativity Media filed for bankruptcy in July 2015,[13] the film's release was postponed until Saban Films acquired the U.S. distribution rights in April 2017.[14]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 70% based on 50 reviews, with an average score of 5.9/10, and the consensus reads "Shot Caller's weakness for action movie clichés is capably offset by strong work from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the central role".[17] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 59 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[18]
Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "It's a genre movie, to be sure, but there's an impressive sense of authenticity—in the language, the locations and the overall texture—that goes a long way to sell the scenario."[19]
