Featured Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures
Topics: Film, Rotten Tomatoes, TV and Film
Michael Slavin
If you're looking for a weekend watch, Jack O’Connell fans have rediscovered a ‘brutally realistic’ film he was in, and it's good a pretty good rating.
When new films come out from beloved actors it is incredibly common for fans to go back through their filmography and try and discover that one hidden gem no one has come across.
In the case of Jack O’Connell, the former Skins star appears in the brand new 28 Years Later, playing a key part in the film’s deeply controversial ending.
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Amongst the 28 Years Later star's filmography is a number of underrated classics, however one in particular stands up.
The film sees him play a young prisoner Eric recently transferred from a youth facility to an adult prison.
Called Starred Up, it follows him adjusting to adult prison life and reconnecting with his father Neville, played by Andor star Ben Mendelsohn.
The film’s cast is full of great character actors, with Rupert Friend, Sam Spruell, and Gilly Gilchrist filling out for the David Mackenzie movie from 2013.
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The screenwriter, Jonathan Asser, wrote the script about his experience working as a voluntary therapist at a prison.
This then explains the large portion of the reviews calling the film ‘brutally realistic’, leading to its near perfect 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.
One fan took to Reddit recently begging film fans for recommendations similar to Starred Up, saying in the process: “I just rewatched Starred Up (2014) and I just love how authentic it feels while being such a brutal and violent prison movie.
“The stand-out scenes are the group therapy sessions where tensions are so unbelievably high that you feel as if the characters could explode into violence at any second. And not a SINGLE moment feels fake or dishonest.”
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Brian Tallerico, writing for RogerEbert.com said of the film in his 3.5 out of four star review: “We've seen many visually arresting films in recent years and character studies are as common as film festivals, but it's the remarkable blend of the two here that makes Starred Up devastating.”
Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News said of the film: “Expect to hear a lot more from English actor Jack O'Connell, who holds the screen as well as his character, Eric, commands a cellblock.”
One old Reddit thread discussing the film when it came out was similarly praising O’Connell’s performance, presciently saying over 11 years ago: “Jack O'Connell is getting so much work.
"I love it. He's super talented.”
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This has now continued, with the actor taking a scene-stealing role in the Michael B Jordan film Sinners, and now being one of the top billed name for 28 Years Later and its sequel.
One fan recently tweeted, saying: “I feel like my 10+ year investment of being a Jack O’Connell fan is finally paying off.”