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Seattle Weekly Presents: SIFF Starred Up

Friday | May 23

9 pm | SIFF Uptown Cinema

Violent, abrasive, and explosive—Eric (Jack O’Connell) is a criminal teen under strict watch. He’s prone to break out in dangerous fits of rage that threaten all those around him. But after his transfer to an adult prison, he’s confronted with the one inmate who won’t accept his volatile nature: his father (Ben Mendelsohn). Director David Mackenzie paints a painful, gritty, and authentic portrait of a Northern Ireland prison housing some of the most vicious and brutal men, and his film unleashes their souls with nuance. In what is easily the most striking and powerful prison drama since Steve McQueen’s Hunger, Starred Upis a piece of confrontational, jarring, and dazzling filmmaking that reveals the beating heart behind the carnage. The film also features a revelatory performance from newcomer O’Connell in the lead role, as well as solid supporting work from Mendelsohn and “Homeland”’s Rupert Friend. Mackenzie’s drama is a must-see revitalization of the prison subgenre, a riveting film about incarceration, violence, and humanity.

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