Movie

A Sense of Freedom

1985 · 85 min

A grim, unflinching plunge into prison brutality and one man's unbreakable defiance, harrowing but hard to look away from.

Directed by: John Mackenzie
Genres: Crime, Drama
Starring: David Hayman, Bill Barclay, Martin Black

Tagline: They broke his body but not his spirit.
Overview: The true story of Jimmy Boyle, who was reputed to be Scotland's most violent man.

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Directed by: John Mackenzie
Genres: Crime, Drama
Starring: David Hayman, Bill Barclay, Martin Black

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: bleakstrength 3 of 3
darkstrength 3 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: violence
crime
survival
power
redemption
Places: big city
prison
Era: period
Audience: adult
Form: true story
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language strong
Violence strong
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	4
Horror	3
Humour	1
Realism	9
Romance	1
Tension	7
Darkness	8
Complexity	5
Emotional weight	8

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Details

Genres: crime, drama
Directed by: John Mackenzie
Written by: Jimmy Boyle, Peter McDougall
Starring: David Hayman, Bill Barclay, Martin Black, Alex Norton, John Murtagh, Fulton Mackay, Sean Scanlan, Jim Boyce
Cinematography: Chris Menges
Runtime: 85 min
Country: United Kingdom
Languages: English

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A Sense of Freedom

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