What is it?
Starred Up is the new prison drama from writer Jonathon Asser and director David Mackenzie (Hallam Foe, Perfect Sense).Think Shawshank x violence + a whole lot of arrogant swaggering.
Plotline. 60 words. Go.
Young offender, Eric, is moved to an adult prison – or 'starred up'. He soon gets armed and aggro, fearlessly throwing his weight around the clink like a metal-head in a mosh-pit. It doesn’t help that estranged father, Neville, is locked in too. Luckily, volunteer psychotherapist Oliver runs an on-site anger management group and takes a special interest in Eric.
Who’s in it?
This is all about Jack O’Connell as Eric. Looking utterly delicious. Joining him are Rupert Friend and Ben Mendelsohn (The Place Beyond The Pines, The Dark Knight Rises) as Oliver and Neville.
First-off, let’s talk Jack O’Connell.
Forgive our flagrant objectification. The boy who played Cook in Skins is long gone and in his place: a man. (If thugs in vests is your thing, of course.)
But it can’t be as violent as all that?
There’s the makeshift knife slicing that guy’s face. Oh, and the hanging. The GBH-in-the-shower scene. And that time a bloke who looks like an Only Fools And Horses extra gets shanked…
What are they saying?
'A complex father/son relationship is viewed through a raw depiction of prison life in the riveting Starred Up. Pitched somewhere between Scum and a British version of A Prophet, this is uncompromising in showing a corrupt system designed to punish and subjugate rather than offer any hope of rehabilitation.' – Screen Daily
What are we saying?
Undoubtedly the best film of 2014 so far. It’s relentlessly gritty and not for the faint hearted. But if you have the stomach for all 106 minutes: don’t miss it. The savagery and swearing is never gratuitous and is well balanced by dark humour and the odd touching moment between father and son. Whether it works out well for the destructive duo? Well, you’ll just have to see.
Starred Up is out in cinemas from Friday 21st March
Follow Hannah on Twitter @hannahrosewens
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.