Apr 17, 2026 8:17am PT

‘Magilligan’ Follows Former Inmate Struggling to Navigate Life After Prison: ‘I Don’t Think He’ll Ever Find Peace’

Lise Pedersen

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Lise Pedersen

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Courtesy of VdR

When Ross McClean first met Ryan Craig back in 2019 while running workshops in a young offenders’ prison, he had no idea he would be filming the young man over the next six years.

The result is the Northern Irish director’s debut feature, “Magilligan,” which is premiering in competition at Visions du Réel, Switzerland’s leading documentary film festival.

Named after the prison where Ryan spent the best part of a decade between the ages of 18 and 28 after committing a violent crime as a teenager, the film is built around a central question: how much of a life is shaped by family and environment, and how difficult it is to break away.