Both films show an ex-con who can't catch a break. Even though they have reformed and are trying to get on with their lives, they are haunted by their past crimes. They seek forgiveness, but it always seems to elude them. Society treats them horribly no matter how much they repent, and they are continuously ostracized. These films also beg the question: do these ex-cons deserve such treatment? At what point do the 'good' people become bad from their unwillingness to forgive?
Both these films offer moral dilemmas that ask the audience to examine the nature of forgiveness. We see an ex-con go through many hardships in their search for acceptance back into society. These films also explore the relationship between a perpetrator who seeks forgiveness and a victim who must decide whether or not to give it.
Both show an individual who is extremely remorseful for the accident they caused. Despite doing everything they can to seek forgiveness from the family, it is never enough. They are harassed by the family to the point where we, as the audience, must ask ourselves who is in the right and who is in the wrong? The vengeful family? Or the remorseful perpetrator?
