Sean Penn gives a chilling and mesmerising portrayal of sociopathy, as Matthew Poncelet, a trailer trash multiple killer on death row with no sense of remorse. His sparring partner is Susan Sarandon, in an Oscar-winning performance as Sister Helen Prejean, the real-life nun who became Poncelet's spiritual adviser during his final countdown, and whose book about the experience was the inspiration for the film. Sarandon's nun is a sort of social worker with faith, whose sexually charged chats with Penn, and her meetings with his family and the families of his victims, take us into the heart of the debate about capital punishment. Director Tim Robbins's refusal to make a clear judgement on the issue is frustrating, some may say perverse. Is he taking a deliberately ambiguous stance, or can't he make his own mind up?

A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple.