Starred Up

The list of excellent prison movies is a long one and the low budget Starred Up is the latest new entrant into that particular roll call of honour. David Mackenzie’s film follows Eric (Jack O’Connell) as he’s “starred up” (being moved ahead of schedule from a Young Offenders Institute to an adult prison – so now you know) and how he integrates into his new surroundings. With a bang is probably the best way to describe it, as no sooner has he put his bag of belongings down in his cell a misinterpretation of events ends up with Eric putting someone into the infirmary. Things are made more complicated for Eric in the fact that his father Neville (Ben Mendelsohn) is also in the same prison wing. Much like Jacques Audiard’s excellent A Prophet, the reason for Eric’s incarceration is only briefly mentioned, but the message is clear – this boy (now man) is a caged tiger. Though most recently seen getting lost amongst the CGI in the dire 300: Rise of an Empire, if you know your low budget British films you’ll more likely recognise O’Connell from such fare as Harry Brown and Eden Lake. He usually plays unlovable angry characters, but here he’s channelled that aggression into something of more substance. Despite his quick hands and arrogant swagger, it’s clear he’s been sculpted this way due to his upbringing and you can’t help root for him. Jonathan Assers script is based on his own experiences working in a prison as a therapist, so whilst it does heavily skew at time towards the inmates sitting on plastic chairs talking about the feelings, its pretty sharp all the way through with nods to both addressing the relationship between Eric and Neville and the usual grind through the official and unofficial prison hierarchy. On that note, you get to see Sam Spruell as the Deputy Governor of the prison, a man born with a face to play such a sneering role. Yes, it is grim at times (hey, it’s a British prison film), but there are some moment of humour thrown in, not least when father and son are pulled from their cells and embark on a stream of sweary insults that would please Malcolm Tucker. There are some negatives. Mendelsohn’s character is meant to be one of the daddies (though not the daddy), but he comes across a bit of a snivelling buffoon and Rupert Friend’s position (as a quasi con-counsellor – obviously the Assers role) is never fully explained. Plus, the film does slip into prison movie clichés at times (shower attacks, bent Screws etc), but the argument against that would be that it’s a film set in a prison, so what else would you be expecting to see? MacKenzie’s direction is palm-sweatingly claustrophobic and despite the father-son dynamic he never lets things dip into over-sentimentality. Plus, when MacKenzie holds the shot of the final scene of Eric disappearing through a revolving door, you really do wonder what route in life the young man will eventually end up taking. Mackenzie’s CV has been middling so far, but this will burn brightly from it for many a year to come. Rating: 8/10.