Starring Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn and Rupert Friend, the film is based on Jonathan Asser's experiences working as a voluntary therapist at HM Prison Wandsworth, with some of the country's most violent criminals.

While Neville is telling Dennis that he will not abide the death of his son, prison guards in the basement begin to hang Eric, so it will look like suicide.

[9] Financing for Starred Up was provided by Film4 alongside Creative Scotland, Quickfire Films, Northern Ireland Screen and Lip Sync Productions.

[10] Starred Up was praised for its acting (particularly for Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn and Rupert Friend), David Mackenzie's direction, realism and the father-son dynamic of Asser's screenplay.

The website's critical consensus states, "Smart, hard-hitting and queasily realistic, Starred Up is an instant classic“ of UK prison cinema.

"[24] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph commented, "Prison films have always had their share of surrogate father-son bonding, so there's something satisfying about making it biological - it's a shrewd twist in the formula.

"[26] Rich Cline of Shadows on the Wall, while noting that the piece "deploys cliché in the prison-thriller genre", also opined that "it continually twists its story in more personal directions, which allows the fine cast to create vividly intense characters".

[28] Jessica Kiang of IndieWire gave the film an "A−" rating, stating, "Starred Up, like its characters, never loses face, never compromises its bloodily-earned hard-man cred, yet its real agenda is one of compassion."

"[30] Jason Gorber of Twitch gave the film a "B" rating, stating "Starred Up is a gritty, intense and shockingly unique take on the prison drama genre."

Describing Asser's script as "authentically abrasive and peppered with welcome snatches of humour" and both Mackenzie and cinematographer Michael McDonough as being able to "capture the volatility of the environment without surrendering sensitivity to character".

And additional, "British director David Mackenzie's gradually affecting "Starred Up" has all those ingredients but uses them for more precise means that merely revealing the harsh nature of life behind bars.

Mackenzie applies a sharp kitchen sink realism to this haunting setting and directs it toward an ultimately moving family drama that just happens to involve vicious convicts.

"[35] Mark Kermode of The Observer gave a positive review, commenting, "Mackenzie keeps us grounded in the maze of prison life, coaxing powerful performances from his cast, each apparently encouraged and emboldened to find their own space."