Film Review: Brutal Coming-of-Rage Prison Drama ‘Starred Up’

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CHICAGO – Opening this weekend at Chicago’s Facets Cinematheque after a week on VOD is “Starred Up,” a bloody-knuckles British prison drama that was also a favorite at the most recent Chicago Critics Film Festival. This is an at-times beastly movie that follows in the line of previous character-driven jail films like “Chopper” (starring Eric Bana), or Tom Hardy’s raging breakout movie “Bronson”.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

While this movie may not have the narrative muscle of these references, this odyssey into a hidden world does feature two actors well on their way to becoming global obsessions, Jack O’Connell and Ben Mendelsohn.

O’Connell plays Eric Love, a raging teenager dumped into an adult prison to carry out a drug-related sentence. After asserting his power to his fellow inmates with an act of violence (and nearly killing someone albeit unintentionally), he makes a connection with his father Neville (Ben Mendelsohn) who’s in the middle of serving out a much longer term. While Eric remains a hothead ready to clash with authority, Neville tries to guide Eric in a productive direction, his last attempt at fatherhood, while protecting him from the chain reaction of violence Eric has started. At the same time, Eric undergoes a form of anger management with other inmates as orchestrated by non-convict Oliver Beamer (Rupert Friend). All of this is overseen by members of administration who themselves perpetuate the violent mores of the prison.

Continue reading for Nick Allen’s full review of “Starred Up”

Jack O’Connell in ‘‘Starred Up’
Photo credit: Tribeca Film

Continue reading for Nick Allen’s full review of “Starred Up”