Starred Up

Matt Richards

Another gritty, tense and violent prison film. Jack O’Connell is a tightly-wound powder keg, a damaged teen in an adult prison begging for ultra violence. The film captures perfectly the trauma done by institutionalism and fractured family. Mendelsohn is in form as the unwilling father. Beautifully shot, capturing the tense vibe fleshed out by a solid support cast that proves a damning comment on the system.

J. O.

Incendiary performances and a skillful, refined direction make for a wholly engrossing experience. The film never goes beyond the walls of the prison, or beyond the here-and-now of the prisoners. This is an explosive portrait of aggression and savagery (not unlike Alan Clarke's Scum), and its main flaw was not spending enough time exploring fatherly guilt or expanding on the racial tensions.

smndvdcl

A brutal prison drama with O'Connell and Mendelssohn on ferocious fire. Up there with 'Chopper' and 'Bronson'.

Tigrão

With electrifying performances from young O'Connell and Mendelsohn, "Starred Up" ranks itself high up on my list of best prison movies, along with "A Prophet", "Hunger", "Kiss of the Spider Woman", "Carandiru", "Shawshank", and "Papillon". Intense as hell and masterfully directed by David MacKenzie.

Slow Immersion [Joe]

Never liked O'Connell but this had some potential, and was remotely interesting, but the violence, violence, just too much for me.

Carlos Filipe Freitas

Jack O’Connell’s performance was tightly convincing, in an explosive mix of madness and fury, and one of his best so far.

Rohan Berry

This was a prison movie that goes entirely against the rudiments and clichés of the genre. Rupert Friend's therapeutic group meetings create a fascinating dramatic dynamic at the centre of a film that is all about empowerment. The only real wrong note in the film was the overly melodramatic ending, as up until this hurried segue into hell the film had been supremely confident at dealing with issues of violence.

Dan

4.75* You begin the film confused, scared and nervous and you end it breathless. Jack and Ben turn in two brutal and incredible performances. Prison is terrifying, rehabilitation is hard and Mackenzie makes no concessions for his audience in making these truths absolutely clear.