Film Review - Starred Up

The publicity headlines for  'Starred Up', claims this is a 'Brutal British Prison Drama', and whilst the content may be  'brutal', it's the underlying drama that makes this a far more compelling commentary on 'Broken Britain' 

Jack O'Connell, plays the young Eric, who has been 'Starred Up' which is prison speak for having graduated from doing his 'time' in a 'Young Offenders Centre', to serving his sentence in an adult prison.  

The opening scenes give you a flavour of the dehumanising effect prison has had on Eric. From him being strip searched, to being 'banged up' in a stark empty cell. His first act is to make a crude knife a statement on the reality of his prison world. Before he initiates an unprovoked vicious assault. 

Eric is a vicious, cruel and violent character. With the mind set of a wild animal. He has no moral compass other than the belief that prison is all about the survival of the fittest,

Stared Up has been compared to that other great 80's British Prison drama - 'Scum'. The characters of both films tell similar stories.And  bleak backdrop of prison life has not changed greatly over Thirty years between each film. However were the two films differ is how Starred Up explores a more modern dilemma When Eric's father a career criminal turns up on the same wing. 

Played by Ben Mendelson the elder 'Mr Love' is charged by the boss of the wing, to 'mentor' his estranged son.  Not so much to teach him the error of his violent past, more to avoid the consequences of him destabilising the delicate balance that exists within such a brutal regime.

Both O'Connell and Mendelson give superb performances. Their fractured relationship is an expose of the underclass family sub culture that exists in Britain today. The father a career criminal. The son a 'Ferrell' product of a dysfunctional society. They have no common bond, no history. And no communication. The prison life is all they share. 

Rupert Friend plays the support worker who offers a ray of hope to the young Eric. He hosts a help group for violent prisoners, encouraging them to communicate their anger rather than expose it through actions. It's this 'Hope' which is frowned upon by both the authorities and the older prisoners including Eric's father. 

The films director David Mckenzie raises some difficult questions about Britain's prison system and how young offenders are handled once they become adults. He paints a picture, where the authorities reject any chance of redemption for its charges. He see's our prisons as part of a flawed system, that values the status quo. 

'Starred Up' is not a film with a happy ending, but despite its grim themes, it does offer some final redemption and reconciliation of sorts, for father and son. 

It's not a comfortable film to watch. It's cold,  it's dark, and it leaves you feeling both sad and despondent. Strangely It makes you ask the question - Are the criminals the 'real' victims of a broken system, in 'Broken Britain'