"Thug: a tough and violent man, esp a criminal" - dictionary definition. The harsh lifestyle of many inner-city youths, especially black Americans, was immortalised by gangsta rappers such as the archetypal thug himself, the late Tupac Shakur. But in Marc Levin's film, some of them have come to realise that thug life in DC (or anywhere else) isn't all outlaw glamour, and that it can entail loss of life and liberty.

Bruno, one of 24,000 African American men aged between 18 and 35 who have found themselves in conflict with the city's criminal justice system, is incarcerated at the Lorton Correction Complex, where most offenders in the district "spend time". He talks candidly about the lure of thug life and its often sad inevitability, and he expresses hope that his younger brother will somehow be able to escape it.

An important documentary about America's social time-bomb. Natalie Gravenor