In the film, Zweig interviews seven ex-convicts about their times in prison and their lives on the outside.[2] The men talk about insights they have gained about their lives, including how childhood abuse led to a life of crime. Film subjects include one man who stabbed fellow inmate Clifford Olson 21 times, before Olson committed his serial killings.[3]
Another of the film's subjects was abused as a child while a resident at the Mount Cashel OrphanageinSt. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. A Hard Name ends with archival television footage of him performing, playing the guitar and singing for other young residents of the home.[4]
Zweig admitted to be intimidated about doing these interviews:
"[...] Intimidated, I guess. Less by their danger and more by a male competitive thing, in a way…they’re going to see through me. They’re going to see that if I went to jail, I’d be an easy mark. I’m not as tough as them. I haven’t survived what they’ve survived and they’re just going to dismiss me as a weak citizen.”
However, the ex-convicts interviewed were surprisingly open to Zweig and allowed themselves to be shown as vulnerable.[2]
