Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Extraction 2’ follows Tyler Rake as he takes on a new mission that is much more personal to him. Having retired since his stint in Dhaka, Rake’s quiet life is disrupted when a mysterious man, played by Idris Elba, shows up at his door. He tells him that his ex-wife Mia’s sister, Ketevan, is in trouble and needs to be extracted from a prison in Georgia, where she is being held captive by her husband. Her children are in there, too, and there is no one she can rely on for help.
Rake discovers that Ketevan’s husband is a well-known criminal in Georgia. He and his brother have every politician in their pocket, making them highly resourceful and very dangerous. On top of that, Ketevan and her children are being held in Tkachiri Prison, which is a bleak place for a person to be in. If you are wondering whether it is a real prison, then here’s what you should know.
Tkachiri Prison is Fictional
No, Tkachiri prison is not a real prison in Georgia. There is a small place called Tkachiri in Georgia, but it doesn’t have a prison of the scale shown in the film. While it might not be a real person, Tkachiri prison in ‘Extraction 2’ reflects how dangerous and unlivable such places can be for innocent people, especially children.
Over the years, several humanitarian and other organizations have pointed out the grim conditions in Georgian prisons, especially the often brutal mistreatment of prisoners. In 2006, an article suggested that prisoners were forced to live in cramped rooms so small that they had to take turns sleeping. There were also accusations of physical and sexual abuse. A scandal broke out in 2012 when a video showing prison guards torturing and sexually assaulting a prisoner surfaced on the internet.
With time, prisoners started to speak out about how they suffered ruthless beatings from the guards. “They tore off my fingernails, damaged [my] skull, broke my leg bones, ribs, nose, and teeth,” one prisoner reported. In 2016, several prisoners testified before the Georgian Parliament’s Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee and described their suffering. “There is always the threat of violence in prison in a closed space…torture and prisoner abuse by prison staff was considered normal and even encouraged,” said a UN representative who visited Georgia in 2005.
Fortunately, things have improved over the years, especially after the testimonies from various inmates and protests by their families. The government has executed severe changes in its policy and implemented “radical changes in the mentality of its staff throughout the entire chain of command,” turning the prisons into a more tolerable place for people who don’t have to worry about the threat of assaults from guards anymore. The prison we see in ‘Extraction 2’ seems to represent how things used to be in the prisons of Georgia. This raises the stakes for Rake, who has to do everything in his power to save Ketevan and her children.
Read More: Who is Idris Elba’s Boss in Extraction 2?
