Starred Up
Tribeca Film | Release Date: August 27, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekAug 26, 2014
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. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 27, 2014
It’s a credit to both Mackenzie’s talent as a director of actors and to the underlying humaneness of his vision that he argues that the right option is the more difficult and less predictable one — and that he does so without relying on sentimentality, unearned sympathy, or a happy ending. Read full review
91
The PlaylistJessica KiangMar 18, 2014
The supporting cast all do excellent work too, but this is Eric’s story, and so it’s O’Connell’s film. His performance is a revelation. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnMar 18, 2014
Mackenzie (whose previous credits include "Perfect Sense" and "Young Adam") applies a sharp kitchen sink realism to this haunting setting and directs it toward an ultimately moving family drama that just happens to involve vicious convicts. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinAug 29, 2014
Starred Up is an edgy, teeming thriller, brilliantly disorienting, making strange a world we thought we knew, at least from other movies. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 28, 2014
Director David Mackenzie's gripping, convincing and convincingly violent convict drama owes its authenticity largely to the experiences of ex-prison therapist Jonathan Asser, who wrote its screenplay. But the opening 10 minutes are a virtuosic example of virtually wordless filmmaking. Read full review
90
The DissolveTasha RobinsonAug 28, 2014
The most tremendous thing about Starred Up is exactly how simple it keeps things, and what a richly nuanced story emerges in the process. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 26, 2014
Though it is, finally, an affecting story of two damaged men bound by blood and something like love (and also a thrillerish catalog of double crosses and shifting allegiances), it is, above all, a study in the patterns of chaos that govern penitentiary life. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoAug 28, 2014
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. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 28, 2014
O'Connell, soon to head the cast of Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken," explodes onscreen in a star-is-born performance. Starred Up is a small indie film in danger of slipping through the cracks at the Hollywood-driven multiplex. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianAug 26, 2014
The cautious optimism with which it answers questions about rehabilitation and forgiveness is credible because the characters and setting feel so thoroughly authentic. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 11, 2014
It's almost as difficult to sit through Starred Up as it is satisfying to watch it. Read full review
80
The New YorkerDavid DenbySep 8, 2014
At first, you may think, Oh, it’s that damn prison movie again, but Starred Up has a much more intimate texture of affection and disdain than most genre films. You’re held by every exchange, every fight. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanAug 28, 2014
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. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 18, 2014
The pic owes its believability to Asser, who served as a therapist similar to Oliver’s character, drawing from his experience to shape the world. Asser brings more than just realism, however, crafting the central father-son relationship on the foundation of classical Greek tragedy. Read full review
80
Total FilmKevin HarleyMar 17, 2014
The details ring true and the performances smart in Mackenzie’s prison movie. You wouldn’t meet Jack O’Connell’s tasty glare in a boozer, but try taking your eyes off him here. Read full review
80
EmpireDamon WiseMar 17, 2014
A brutal, immersive prison survival story with a breakout performance by British actor Jack O’Connell. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoSep 25, 2014
A potent and disturbing experience. Fortunately it’s much more, offering sharp performances and genuine drama. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandSep 5, 2014
The raw emotions on display need no translation. David Mackenzie directs the film in a piercingly realistic style. His ingenious decision to forgo a score makes Starred Up even more immersive, because all you hear is the dehumanizing din of prison. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyAug 27, 2014
Like Eric Bana's menacingly raw breakout in 2000's "Chopper" or Tom Hardy's in 2008's "Bronson," O'Connell bristles with terrifying hair-trigger unpredictability. Watching him, you feel like you're witnessing the arrival of a new movie star. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMar 18, 2014
Some years from now, Starred Up, a rough, violent and, to American ears, half-indecipherable British prison drama, will be remembered as the film that announced a new star, Jack O’Connell. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadaySep 18, 2014
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. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottSep 26, 2014
Starred Up isn't just violence for violence's sake. Rather, it is a surprisingly layered, hard-hitting human drama, one that cuts to the bone -- albeit with a homemade prison knife. Read full review
60
CineVueDaniel GreenAug 26, 2014
Having constructed such a dramatically enticing set-up, it's thus disappointing to see Mackenzie fall back on familiar generic tropes with such a frustrating sense of inevitability. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyMar 18, 2014
It's halfway-strong, just under-dramatised; goodness, though, if it doesn't show what O'Connell is capable of. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonMar 18, 2014
It’s disappointing when Starred Up begins to lapse into soapy cliché. Read full review
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