As I continue my rewatch of many of my British movie DVDs’ after rewatching 2012’s Offender (starring Joe Cole) I decided to rewatch Starred Up, the 2013 prison drama starring Jack O’Connell and featuring great cast names including Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend, Sam Spruell, Ian Beattie and directed by David MacKenzie (Hell or High Water)

Slightly less ‘popcorn’ than Offender, Starred Up is a far grittier prison drama which tells the story of Eric (played by Jack O’Connell’ who is transferred from one prison to another and straight from the start we see that Eric isnt someone to be messed with and is pretty unpredictable. Starred Up is a very primal film and in the scenes that feature no dialogue at all, we learn perhaps more about this world than the scenes that feature dialogue. That’s not to take anything away from the script, Starred Up just doesn’t feature and doesn’t need to feature as much ‘thug talk’ as some other prison dramas might feel the need to include to build up the world of the inmates and what they do through. Starred Up feels very real indeed and much of that I’m sure is down to screenwriter Jonathan Asser who worked as a voluntary therapist at HM Prison Wandsworth. Jack O’Connell is great as Eric whether he is keeping people at a distance with his words and tone, or whether its his body language that also has the same effect.  The world in which Eric finds himself is like a zoo, where only the strongest may survive and straight from the start of the film, we see Eric preparing to be around for quite a while.

Not a film for those who are squeamish at prison brutality, but a great film for those who enjoy well acted films that don’t pull any punches when it comes to survival of the fittest and its definitely up there and on the list with some of the other classic British prison films such as Screwed, McVicar, and Scum.