This gritty, bleak prison drama is at its core the enthralling story of an estranged father and son.
Eric (Jack O’Connell) is a frighteningly violent teenager moved to an adult prison before his time. He is, as the title suggests, what’s called ‘starred up’.
It’s a slow moving build-up from when Eric arrives at the new prison to the point of no return. We’re taken through every procedure as he goes through all the classic prison check-ups in a long first scene that sets the tone for the rest of the film.
It doesn’t take long before Eric shows that everything he’s brought with him, things that have been cleared by the prison staff, all have their unique purpose. He turns out to be the very worst kind of resourceful. We’re brutally introduced to his uncontrollable violence but it takes a turn when the posh councillor Oliver (Rupert Friend) in a way manages to reach him.
In the end this is a film about Eric’s broken relationship with his father (Ben Mendelsohn) that to a certain extent is beyond repair. It’s obviously very macho, but it turns out the film has more heart than butch, so it’s nearly all forgiven.
Prison dramas have never been all that appealing to me, but this film manages to captivate and move with the mix of brutal prison violence and fascinating anger management sessions, almost the only time we see Eric let his guard down.
Starred Up is far from perfect as it can’t escape some classic prison clichés. There’s the crocked prison guy in charge, someone wants someone killed off, but strangely even these tropes have a certain charm to them.
Perhaps I’m used to the American ‘gangster’ films with all violence and no nudity, but the fact that O’Connell goes full-frontal in two scenes was noticeable to a point where it actually distracted from the plot. But I do applaud it since I’ve never understood why it’s okay to show someone being beaten bloody while nudity is a big no-no.
Even for its flaws, director David Mackenzie pulls it off, and Starred Up leaves its mark. The brilliant O’Connell once more gets to show off his star quality and I for one can’t wait to see what these guys will do next.