Review of Starred Up (2014) by Yorkman — 13 Feb 2016

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 of a group 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.