Crossword Genius

Prisoner appearing in twisted feature film (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lifer

'prisoner' is the definition.
(prisoner serving a life sentence)

'in twisted feature film' is the wordplay.
'twisted' is a reversal indicator.
'in' indicates a hidden word.
'refil' is hidden within 'feature film'.
'refil' back-to-front is 'LIFER'.

'appearing' is the link.

(Other definitions for lifer that I've seen before include "Prisoner serving the maximum term" , "Serious criminal" , "Long-term prisoner" , "convict given longest sentence" , "One given lots of porridge" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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