Review of Starred Up (2014) by Graham J — 23 Feb 2015

Intense and gripping, Starred Up is a great prison drama about the broken people who are driven to these kinds of actions. Instead of treating all of the characters in his prison drama like animals, director David MacKenzie gives every character ample screen time to develop a three dimensional personality. None of them are completely evil, they have motivations and rationale behind their terrifying actions. Also, unlike other prison dramas like Shawshank Redemption, he doesn't treat them like saints with a checkered past. None of these men got an unfair shake by the justice system. They've earned their time, but now they're trying to learn how to deal with it.

With great performances, especially from Mendehlson and O'Connell, Starred Up keeps you on the edge of your seat at all times. Even scenes in group therapy feel so authentic and tense that you can't help but feel like you are there. The dialogue and the naturalistic camera movements put you right in the room with these men, and just as much as you want to keep watching, you also want to get out of there.

Starred Up doesn't glorify or vilify the men in prison. Instead it is wanting to tell a realistic redemption journey involving some of the most hardened people in society. It definitely has some of the most graphic prison scenes I've ever seen before, and it did all of that without really addressing sexual violence, I thought this was incredible. David Mackenzie's film makes you feel like you're there, and makes you never want to return. It's worth a watch... At least once.