“Cruel and Unusual” recounts the experiences of three men who endured the longest periods in solitary confinement in the United States, following the 1972 murder of a prison guard at Angola, the Louisiana state penitentiary. Robert King, Herman Wallace, and Albert Woodfox were found guilty based on coerced and unreliable testimonies, without any physical evidence. As members of the Black Panther Party, they faced a grave injustice and harsh treatment. The film chronicles their fight against this injustice, which reached a pivotal moment in 2016 when Albert Woodfox was released after spending 43 years in solitary confinement.