Starred Up

There is a useful directness to Starred Up, a thriller shaped by David Mackenzie with a firm understanding of its audience. In Starred Up, Jack O'Connell provides the anchor while Ben Mendelsohn introduces a contrasting energy. Without revealing later complications, Starred Up opens from this situation: Eric Love, 19, is locked up in prison. The resulting its 1h 46m running time feels most convincing whenever Starred Up trusts behaviour more than explanation.

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Jack O'Connell gives Starred Up its most dependable performance, finding a clear emotional intention beneath the plot. Opposite Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn brings Starred Up a contrasting pace that prevents the central relationship from feeling flat. Rupert Friend widens the ensemble of Starred Up through reactions that suggest a life beyond the immediate scene. David Mackenzie serves the cast of Starred Up best when a look or pause is allowed to finish before the story moves on.

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Beneath its plot, Starred Up is most interested in trust, manipulation and the anxiety of acting without the full picture. That concern becomes visible through Jack O'Connell, whose choices allow Starred Up to explore an idea without stopping for a speech. Eric Love gives the themes of Starred Up a concrete dramatic form rather than leaving them abstract. The emotional value of Starred Up grows whenever David Mackenzie trusts the audience to connect behaviour with the larger question.

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Starred Up benefits from David Mackenzie being controlled while retaining warmth about what each sequence needs to accomplish. Instead of making every beat equally loud, David Mackenzie lets Starred Up create contrast between pressure and release. The strengths comfortably outweigh the small reservations throughout Starred Up, with the strongest decisions feeling connected to character rather than display. It is still fair to say that Starred Up suffers because a middle passage could be slightly leaner, but the problem remains contained.

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At story level, Starred Up turns Eric Love and He's of into the source of its main tension. The role played by Jack O'Connell becomes the viewer's route through Starred Up, especially when Can begins to alter the situation. Jonathan Asser gives Starred Up momentum by allowing choices to create consequences instead of treating each scene as isolated information. Even when the central character pushes the plot toward familiar ground, Starred Up remains attentive to what that pressure means for its characters.

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The craft of Starred Up is defined by controlled information, supported by controlled information rather than overwhelmed by decoration. Film4 gives Starred Up a production framework in which editing that steadily tightens pressure can remain connected to story. Made from a United Kingdom production context, Starred Up uses setting and design to clarify mood before dialogue has to explain it. The technical finish of Starred Up works because image, sound and editing appear to be serving the same immediate purpose.

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For thriller fans who enjoy steady escalation and psychological pressure, Starred Up is ultimately one of the stronger examples of its form. Its most persuasive combination in Starred Up brings Jack O'Connell together with editing that steadily tightens pressure under the direction of David Mackenzie. The fact that a middle passage could be slightly leaner prevents Starred Up from being entirely seamless. Even with that reservation, Starred Up has a clear point of view and enough genuine feeling to justify the journey.