Some Mother's Son is a 1996 film written and directed by Irish filmmaker Terry George, co-written by Jim Sheridan, and based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in the Maze Prison, in Northern Ireland. Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoner Bobby Sands (played by John Lynch) led a protest against the treatment of IRA prisoners, claiming that they should be treated as prisoners of war rather than criminals. The mothers of two of the strikers, played by Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan, fight to save their sons' lives. When the prisoners go on hunger strike and become incapacitated, the mothers must decide whether to abide by their sons' wishes, or to go against them and have them forcibly fed. Helen Mirren and John Lynch had already acted together in the 1984 Troubles-related film Cal. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. Cast Helen Mirren as Kathleen Quigley Fionnula Flanagan as Annie Higgins Aidan Gillen as Gerard Quigley David O'Hara as Frank Higgins John Lynch as Bobby Sands Tom Hollander as Farnsworth Tim Woodward as Harrington Ciarán Hinds as Danny Boyle Geraldine O'Rawe as Alice Quigley Gerard McSorley as Father Daly Dan Gordon as Inspector McPeake Grainne Delany as Theresa Higgins Ciarán Fitzgerald as Liam Quigley Robert Lang as Government Minister Oliver Maguire as Frank Maguire Stephen Hogan as Young Turk Myles Walsh as Man at Church door References External links 1996 films Films based on actual events Films set in Belfast Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Films about the Irish Republican Army English-language Irish films Irish-language films Political drama films Castle Rock Entertainment films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Terry George 1996 drama films European Film Awards winners (films) 1981 Irish hunger strike 1996 directorial debut films Films about mother–son relationships 1990s English-language films