Borstal Boy (2000) on Netflix
In 1941, sixteen-year-old IRA volunteer Brendan Behan leaves Ireland to bomb Liverpool. Apprehended and charged, he is sent to a borstal in East Anglia, England, among those he sees as enemies.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.8/102,719 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes45%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1941, during the Second World War, sixteen-year-old Brendan Behan is an IRA volunteer. He sets out from Ireland on a bombing mission to Liverpool. He is apprehended and charged before he can carry it out. He is sent to a borstal in East Anglia, England, a reform school for young offenders. There he must live among the people he regarded as his enemies. The confrontation stirs a deep inner conflict in him and forces a self-examination.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Borstal Boy (2000)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The real Brendan Behan shot a police officer shortly after returning to Dublin, a fact critic Scott Tobias said the film ignored when it disingenuously suggested the borstal years had cured Behan of his aggression.
- Director Peter Sheridan said he took huge liberties to make the film he wanted, centring on Brendan Behan's republicanism set against his sexuality; the film adds romances, an escape attempt and a student play that are not in Behan's novel.
