
Walking Heavy
Jason Coghlan spent sixteen years in British prisons for armed robbery before deciding, on release, to study law instead of returning to crime. VICE spends two years filming him running JaCogLaw, a firm based on Spain's Costa del Sol that connects British criminals facing charges abroad with local defense lawyers. The cameras follow him through Marbella's expat underworld, where his old reputation and his new legal credentials turn out to be the same asset: clients trust him because he has been on their side of the interrogation room. The film does not let his past stay past. A gang feud back in his native Manchester resurfaces partway through filming, threatening to pull him back into the world he says he left behind, and the tension between his legitimate business and his old connections runs under every scene. Coghlan narrates his own transformation in interviews shot alongside footage of his office and clients, leaving the viewer to weigh whether his law practice is redemption, a hustle, or both at once.