This is worth watching for those who like films about the internal dynamics of prison life. The screenwriter, Jonathan Asser, worked as a prison therapist, perhaps something like the one, played by Rupert Friend, who tries to help the main character, Eric (Jack O'Connell). The unusual aspect of this film, compared to other such dramas, is that Eric’s father (Ben Mendelsohn) is incarcerated in the same institution.
The title is likely to be obscure to non-UK audiences — it refers to the process of transferring an offender from a juvenile facility to an adult one. Also obscure may be much of the dialogue, which is spoken in a variety of mostly non-posh British accents. (The entire film was shot in two prisons in Northern Ireland, with no scenes set on the outside.) Best to use the subtitles, if available, though some of the most powerful scenes employ no dialogue. Asser and director David Mackenzie depict prison as an unsentimental place full of people, not least protagonist Eric, with anger issues. It’s not cheery.
IMDb link
viewed 5/21/14 7:30 pm at Gershman Y [PFS screening] and reviewed 5/21/14
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