Netflix’s gripping sports drama A Prayer Before Dawn tells the harrowing true story of Liverpool boxer Billy Moore’s survival in Thai prison
Lucas Hill-Paul Content Editor
16:23, 26 Jan 2026
This gruelling sports biopic is now streaming on Netflix(Image: A24)
Netflix viewers are becoming obsessed with a compelling sports drama film rooted in a powerful and brutal true story.
The 2017 picture A Prayer Before Dawn arrived on the streaming platform last Tuesday (20th January) and has rapidly climbed the top 10 rankings, currently sitting at number four.
Helmed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, it features Peaky Blinders and Gangs of London actor Joe Cole portraying real-life boxer Billy Moore, drawing from his autobiography A Prayer Before Dawn: My Nightmare in Thailand’s Prisons.
But what unfolds in this punishing sports biographical drama and where is the actual Moore today?
Let’s delve deeper into this thrilling real-life tale, reports the Express.
What happens in A Prayer Before Dawn explained(Image: A24)
READ MORE: Ordinary Angels true story: Sharon Stevens’ life and where she is todayREAD MORE: Ordinary Angels true story explored as miracle toddler’s plight retoldWhat happens in A Prayer Before Dawn?
The picture draws from Billy’s actual experiences whilst imprisoned in Thailand following his arrest and charges for possession of stolen property and a firearm. Whilst the genuine prisons where he served time refused filming access, the production crew utilised Thailand’s Nakhon Pathom prison, now operating as a museum, as a substitute location.
Beginning with his difficult past as a heroin user, the film tracks Billy as he becomes a prisoner at Klong Prem prison in Bangkok, Thailand around 2007 and faces numerous harrowing ordeals.
These include his transfer to an overcrowded cell controlled by brutal gang boss Keng (portrayed by Panya Yimmumphai), where he’s compelled to rest beside a deceased fellow prisoner, and observing a vicious sexual attack involving a knife. Billy eventually attempts to form a friendship with a transgender prisoner called Fame (Pornchanok Mabklang), but his mental wellbeing deteriorates and he becomes addicted to hard drugs.
This gruelling sports biopic is now streaming on Netflix(Image: A24)
After being given ya ba (a drug mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine) as a bribe from a prison guard, he attacks two Muslim inmates, leaving them seriously injured.
His time inside also sees him driven into a violent rage after being denied painkillers, during which he bites a correction officer’s neck. Following a suicide attempt, which Billy barely survives when another prisoner discovers him slashing his wrists with a makeshift blade, he’s desperate for a way to express his anger and hopelessness and chooses to join the prison’s Muay Thai boxing squad with Fame’s assistance, with whom he forms a close relationship.
Prison governor Preecha (Vithaya Pansringarm) is taken with Billy’s ability and chooses to enter him to compete for the prison at the national Muay Thai championship, making him the first-ever foreigner to participate.
Billy Moore became the first foreigner to compete in Thailand’s national Muay Thai tournament(Image: A24)
Despite growing closer to the other prisoners, Keng and his associates turn on him and threaten him with a pin prick assault (where the needle or syringe is contaminated with the blood of someone carrying a blood-borne infection) if he’s defeated. Billy also learns he’s suffering from a hernia resulting from his drug habit – any additional injury could trigger severe internal bleeding.
Nevertheless, Billy is determined to compete and manages to defeat his opponent by a narrow margin. He is left battered and bruised after absorbing multiple blows to the stomach and even loses consciousness after vomiting blood once the bout concludes.
He’s rapidly transported to hospital outside the prison grounds and fortunately recovers. Billy chooses to slip away and explore Bangkok, but he soon has second thoughts.
**For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website**
Actor Joe Cole with the real Billy at the Cannes Film Festival(Image: GETTY)
Watch Bridgerton on Netflix for free with Sky
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
from £15
Sky
Sky is giving away a free Netflix subscription with its new Sky Stream TV bundles, including the £15 Essential TV plan.
This lets members watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes hit shows like Bridgerton.
He heads back to hospital, where he encounters his father, played by the real Billy Moore. The pair exchange a smile.
The closing titles disclose that Billy served three additional years in Thailand before being moved to a UK prison and freed on amnesty by the King of Thailand in October 2010. He has since committed his life to supporting other addicts whilst maintaining the path of his own recovery.
Regarding Billy’s current life, the former boxer is understood to live in Liverpool, where he was raised. An interview with Billy in Big Issue North in 2021 confirmed he has a son, Albie, with partner Michelle.
A Prayer Before Dawn is available to stream on Netflix.
If you have been affected by the issues mentioned in this article, call the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123 or visit a local Samaritans branch for confidential support.