One of two impressive British releases this week that are both creatively uncompromised and uncompromising. This is particularly true of Hunger, the feature film debut from the Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen.

The film explores the internment of IRA terrorists in the Maze prison during the 1980s, focusing ultimately on hunger striker Bobby Sands (played by Michael Fassbender). The approach is, at times, harrowingly beautiful – McQueen’s eye captures hypnotic, organic patterns even in the smears of faeces that decorate the cell walls.

Clearly, it’s a controversial topic to tackle. McQueen’s approach is compassionate and humanist: he introduces us first to a prison guard, who checks under his car for bombs while his wife stares on in mute anxiety. The focus shifts to two IRA prisoners who endure beatings and humiliation daily. It’s not until we’re well into the film that the charismatic Sands becomes a central character.

It is not, I think, a film that celebrates terrorism – violence from both sides is shown as equally repulsive; grief equally devastating. It was a messy period in history, and McQueen’s confrontational, confident picture captures that. But equally, that the film was made at all could be argued to implicitly condone the actions of Sands and his fellow paramilitaries. Ultimately, the one thing that can’t be questioned is McQueen’s bold and unflinching talent.

15, 95 minutes

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