Want to See 2014's Best Performance? See Starred Up Tonight at Belcourt

With The Belcourt's Overlooked/Underplayed series in its final days, several under-the-radar gems from 2014 are getting their due. One title from this bunch is Starred Up, a British prison drama from director David Mackenzie that's been making the rounds since its 2013 Toronto film festival bow. The critically lauded film screens for the final time at 9:30 tonight, giving you one last chance to see what I believe is last year's finest performance.

The film zeroes in on hotheaded young inmate Eric Love (Unbroken's Jack O'Connell), who shares a home in a perilous penitentiary with his equally volatile father Neville (The Dark Knight Rises' Ben Mendelsohn). Eric is fresh out of juvenile lockup, and his fierce, dangerous attitude puts him right at home within the prison's walls.

Even though he's got his flaws, Eric is an inmate to root for. The dangers for our protagonist, however, lie as much within as they do outside his cell. Eric is the film's ticking time bomb. His behavior and demeanor suggest that, at any given moment, his timer could hit zero, destroying whatever hope he has at a life outside the prison walls. It doesn't help that Neville (a towering Mendelsohn) has his own issues. He hasn't been the best dad, but the firm father tries his best to steer his offspring through the prison's hierarchy of power (even at the risk of awakening his own vices, potentially to Eric's detriment).

Throughout, Starred Up keeps the audience in its own prison of nervous tension and worry, as Mackenzie casts a shadow of terrifying unpredictability over each scene. That unease is heightened by O'Connell's masterful performance. He throws everything he has into Eric, and it's his prowess that keeps Eric a character to worry for and worry about. What's fascinating is that even at the character's worst, O'Connell still finds a way to show Eric's innocence and earn the audience's sympathy — his actions may have earned him a spot in the big house, but the film makes clear that the last thing Eric needs for his rehabilitation is a cell fit for a scoundrel.

It's the kind of breakout performance that earns actors a seat at the big table, and O'Connell is more than deserving of a spot. But the rest of the cast is equally fine — including Rupert Friend (from the Joe Wright Pride and Prejudice), great in the part of Eric's EOD, so to speak. His Oliver Baumer works in the prison as a therapist. When Eric arrives, Oliver takes a special interest in the young inmate and tries to help him find a new lease on life. The prison's remorseless staff also keeps a firm eye on Eric, however, as the group distrusts his past and believes him to be a hazard.

Herein lies the heart of Starred Up: a battle for Eric's soul. While Oliver and, to an extent, Neville fight to help Eric calm his inner turmoil, the prison sees him as a liability deserving of the tightest muzzle. Beyond providing some outstanding acting, Starred Up gives viewers a good, hard look at the current-day prison system and raises the question of whether society is doing right by its inmates — especially those who may need care more than confinement.

Also playing in the series today: the crowd-pleasing Hindi love story The Lunchbox; and the documentary Concerning Violence, about the anti-colonial uprising across Africa in the 1960s and '70s. Trailers below.

The Lunchbox:

Concerning Violence: