X
- 2014
- TV-MA
- Tribeca Films
- 1 h 46 m
- 2014
- TV-MA
- Tribeca Films
- 1 h 46 m
Summary 19-year-old Eric (Jack O'Connell) is prematurely transferred to the same adult prison facility as his estranged father (Ben Mendelsohn). As his explosive temper quickly finds him enemies in both the prison authorities and fellow inmates — and his already volatile relationship with his father is pushed past the breaking point — Eric is ap...
Directed By: David Mackenzie
Written By: Jonathan Asser
- 2014
- TV-MA
- Tribeca Films
- 1 h 46 m
- 2014
- TV-MA
- Tribeca Films
- 1 h 46 m
Starred Up
8.0
Where to Watch
Summary 19-year-old Eric (Jack O'Connell) is prematurely transferred to the same adult prison facility as his estranged father (Ben Mendelsohn). As his explosive temper quickly finds him enemies in both the prison authorities and fellow inmates — and his already volatile relationship with his father is pushed past the breaking point — Eric is ap...
Directed By: David Mackenzie
Written By: Jonathan Asser
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
81
85% Positive
22 Reviews
22 Reviews
15% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
81
85% Positive
22 Reviews
22 Reviews
15% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
This is an unsparing picture, one whose violence, though deftly handled, is bone-crunchingly rough. Yet its emotional contours are surprisingly delicate, thanks, in large part to O’Connell’s performance.
Starred Up is an edgy, teeming thriller, brilliantly disorienting, making strange a world we thought we knew, at least from other movies.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 98 User Ratings
8.0
91% Positive
89 Ratings
89 Ratings
7% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
2% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 98 User Ratings
8.0
91% Positive
89 Ratings
89 Ratings
7% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
2% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Smart script, powerful story from start to finish, realistic style and terrific performance from Jack O'Connell, MacKenzie successfully makes "Starred Up" hitting your feeling and your mind as hard as the prison life always be. It's easily one of the best prison drama film I ever seen.
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Starred Up is HEAVY with slang and accents. You won’t understand a third of it. But there’s so much going on in between the lines of dialogue that you won’t care.
Thematically tough and emotionally rough, Starred Up is the kind of movie you might enter into with some reluctance. But because everyone involved does such an outstanding job, it's also the kind of movie you won't want to see end.
A potent and disturbing experience. Fortunately it’s much more, offering sharp performances and genuine drama.
For all its savagery and hopelessness, Starred Up manages to be sympathetic, not only because of O’Connell’s galvanizing turn, but also Asser and director David Mackenzie’s unwavering commitment to portraying his character with as much compassion as brutal honesty.
It’s disappointing when Starred Up begins to lapse into soapy cliché.
It's an outstanding movie and the conversation starts and finishes with the brilliant cast. Both father and son are incredibly good. It almost feels like we're watching an entire season of Oz and one nice two hour chunk. This one is absolutely worth seeing on the big screen if it's playing in your neck of the woods.
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This is a surprisingly powerful prison drama that manages to rise above the generally expected level for this type of genre film. Due to an excellent screenplay which balances grit with humour it is gripping from beginning to end. Relative newcomer Jack O'Connell in a star making performance (Angelina Jolie obviously took note) holds centre stage with ease as the junior offender who is 'Starred Up' and finds himself transferred to an adult prison where he is unwittingly re-united with his dad. As the estranged and neglectful father Ben Mendelsohn demonstrates, yet again, what a great character actor he is (He all but stole 'Killing me Softly'). The film is very intense and one scene of violence is so shocking that it had me literally holding my breath!
Technically I found the sound to be inaudible at times which, unfortunately, causes some of the humour to be lost. Never the less this is first rate stuff demonstrating cinema at its provocative best.
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I'll be honest. I wasn't entirely thrilled with the majority of this movie as I was watching it. Sure, the acting was incredibly convincing and the camerawork was laudable at times, but there was just something about the narrative and characters in play -- I couldn't exactly place what this movie was trying to do or say. But sometimes you just have to hear a movie out. Because, in a manner similar to Jeff Nichols's "Mud," it's within the final ten or fifteen minutes of "Starred Up" that things really start to fall into place. Plot elements which once seemed directionless finally incorporate themselves in a massive way. Character dynamics that you felt left too much to be desired end up firing on all cylinders. And all of the thematic meaning and weight you felt the rest of the movie lacked ends up revealing its beautiful self. It's really quite the film. Viewer warning, though; if you're not attuned to the regional dialects in play, you might have to watch this one with subtitles. I know I ended up having to do so.
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Starred Up really succeeds where most gritty British crime dramas of its kind don't, by truly fleshing out each of its characters. O'Connell's powerful performance shows us that Eric is more than a stereotypical violent psychopath - he's a human being too.
Report
Decent enough British prison drama that falls short of greatness. Tightly scripted, well acted and well directed, it suffers from a real lack of emotional depth.
The main character, although going an emotional change in himself as the film progresses, doesn't engage the audience enough to make them care for him. He's just a really nasty bastard, and ultimately ends up in an 'adult' prison because he's aggressive and violent. The film tries to pitch the idea **** therapy session allowing him to open up and connect with fellow inmates within that group... But the film makes no effort to explain why only those particular inmates make it into this 'anger management' therapy session, when it seems everyone in the prison suffers from extreme violent tendencies!
All in all, it's worth watching if you enjoy your films violent, excessively profane, and don't expect too much development through a cohesive narrative and compelling characterisation.
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Production Company
Film4,
Creative Scotland,
Quickfire Films,
Lipsync Productions,
Northern Ireland Screen,
Sigma Films
Release Date Aug 27, 2014
Duration 1 h 46 m
Rating TV-MA
Tagline We're all different on the inside
Awards
British Independent Film Awards
• 1 Win & 8 Nominations
BAFTA Awards, Scotland
• 4 Wins & 5 Nominations
Les Arcs European Film Festival
• 3 Wins & 4 Nominations
