Inside Time

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This short documentary is a portrait of Stephen Reid, a notorious member of the “Stopwatch Gang” known for robbing cars, airports, and banks. Reid reflects on the events and choices that brought him to this moment; a moment that causes him to analyze time and has made him acutely conscious of the here and now.

According to Stephen Reid, who’s serving an 18 year prison sentence, when you plan and execute a robbery it means time: whether it means you’re caught and sent to prison or it means you’re shot and killed.

Sexually molested for years by the very men that should have been protecting him, Reid admits he got stuck at age 11 when something was stolen from his childhood. This event changed his sense of time and set him on a pathway of drugs and crime.

Stephen Reid would walk into a bank and just observe people’s schedules and times for hours. During his robberies he always carried a stopwatch hanging from his neck. Reid seldom used it, though because he relied heavily on his internal clock.

After escaping prison repeatedly and getting caught, Stephen Reid found the definition of “escape”: temporary relief from circumstances. In that moment he was compelled to chronicle his past–tell his story.