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Lock Up (1989) poster

1989 · action · crime · drama

Lock Up

Directed by John Flynn1h 49m1989

Frank Leone is nearing the end of his prison term for a relatively minor crime. Just before he is paroled, however, Warden Drumgoole takes charge. Drumgoole was assigned to a hell-hole prison after his administration was publicly humiliated by Leone, and has now arrived on the scene to ensure that Leone never sees the light of day.

Our read: Lock Up (1989) reads as a heavy, breathless, grounded action · crime · drama entry — extreme in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.

Movie DNA

Heavy, breathless, extreme action / crime, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, mid-stakes, cold.

ElsewhereIMDb6.449kRT31%Metacritic52
  • heavy
  • kinetic
  • extreme
  • bleak
  • cold
  • twisty
Game · before you press play

Watching Lock Up tonight? Spin for your lens.

Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.

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Where the cast leads
DNA · twelve axes

How Lock Up feels to watch.

Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.

MoodHeavy ↔ Cosy
PacingSlow-burn ↔ Kinetic
IntensityGentle ↔ Extreme
WeirdnessConventional ↔ Surreal
HopeNihilistic ↔ Redemptive
StakesIntimate ↔ Epic
HumourNone ↔ Broad
RealityGrounded ↔ Fantastical
DensitySparse ↔ Twisty
WarmthCold ↔ Tender
AuteurTransparent ↔ Signature
Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

“You want eighties Stallone prison grit with a sadistic warden and payback.”

ends triumphantyou’ll be fine aftersteady all the waygrips by minute 12attention 3/5earns its length
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upgraphic violence

Skip it tonight — Skip if brutal jail violence and macho revenge feel too punishing tonight.

Nearest by DNA

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Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like Lock Up, with why →

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