Hunger

The last days of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands during the 1981 protests at Ireland's notorious Maze Prison are presented in striking if not completely illuminating fashion in this filmmaking debut by British artist Steve McQueen. What makes the movie is a powerhouse performance by Michael Fassbender as Sands, whose death is either sacrifice or suicide, depending on your politics.

British visual artist Steve McQueen delivers a cinematic slap to the face with this excruciating, yet strangely beautiful portrait of the 1981 hunger strike by Bobby Sands. The film's depiction of the brutality at the Maze prison near Belfast is uncompromising and at times difficult to watch. Michael Fassbender is utterly convincing as Sands who, in one unforgettable sequence, lays out the reasons for his protest to a priest. He then proceeds to virtually waste away onscreen. (Andrea Baillie)