esrosedotblog

The traditional film story of father and son is played out in many settings.

In today's movie it is set in a prison. Scotland. Modern days.

Starred Up (2015)

The phrase means that a prisoner who would otherwise be sent to a juvenile facility is taken to an adult setting. In this case, the hard ass kid ends up in the same cell block as his Dad who is the leader of the inmates. A top dog.

On the face of it, quite unlikely. But in the film it is as real as the second that someone gets punched out by another prisoner as part of the infrastructure run by the prisoners. There are the guards but then there is the system run by the inmates. This is the system that we see.

This is not a "normal" prison film if any prison film is normal but it is very realistic at the level of watching and seeing the action that occurs. Total suspension of disbelief.

I would not want to see it again because of the brutality and the "reveal" of how it turns out. But it is very good and worthwhile for the lives it portrays. They are out there. In Scotland and here in my community. A life apart.

Labels: films