WERE it not for Halle Berry's deserved Best Actress Oscar win, Monster's Ball (15), a low-budget study of grief and sexual longing, might have been stampeded beneath the feet of the summer blockbusters.

Which would have been a crying shame, because Marc Forster's third feature is emotionally raw film-making of the highest order.

Death Row prison guard Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) shows little compassion for his wards and has been brought up as a racist bigot by his ailing father Buck (Peter Boyle).

Hank's son Sonny (A Knight's Tale's Heath Ledger), who also works at the prison, is determined to break the cycle of hatred and self-loathing, and interacts with the black children in the neighbourhood.

Tensions within the Grotowski household reach boiling point after Sonny fails to carry out his duties properly, while supervising the execution of Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs).

The fall-out has far-reaching repercussions for all three generations of men, not least Hank, who is compelled to re-evaluate his prejudiced outlook.

When Hank meets Lawrence's widow Leticia (Berry), he senses an opportunity for friendship.

Desperately lonely and craving physical intimacy, Hank and Leticia seek solace in sex, but the ghosts of the past continue to haunt them.

Superlative performances and an intelligent screenplay give Monster's Ball the kind of primal passion that few other films can muster.

Berry and Thornton lay themselves bare before the cameras to tap into the maelstrom of emotions which gradually brings their two lost souls together.

There are obvious parallels in their two characters Hank bullies Sonny and Leticia takes out her fears and insecurities on her young son. It is not for the faint of heart, but the rewards are considerable.