★ 9 / 10
Directed by Shane Meadows “How economic precarity and
badelf
Directed by Shane Meadows “How economic precarity and national humiliation curdle into hate” could be the subtitle of This Is England, but that makes it sound…
Directed by Shane Meadows
“How economic precarity and national humiliation curdle into hate” could be the subtitle of This Is England, but that makes it sound more schematic than it is. What Shane Meadows has made here is first and foremost one of the most fascinating coming‑of‑age films I’ve ever seen, and only secondarily a political anatomy of how a lonely child becomes raw material for the far right.
Coming‑of‑age stories are often simple, no matter how good. A kid meets friends, discovers sex, music, rebellion, maybe loss. This Is England gives you all of that and then shows you the bill. Thomas Turgoose, as Shaun, doesn’t just play a kid; he is a kid, in all his awkwardness, bravado, woundedness. He stole every frame for me, so incredibly authentic that you forget there’s a camera anywhere near him. You can feel how desperately he wants to belong, how easy it becomes, in that state, to mistake any intense attention for love.
I’m not expert enough in the British punk and skinhead scene to audit it for accuracy, but it feels right in my bones. My guess is yes, Meadows got it. What I can say with confidence is that he and his team absolutely nailed the 1980s look and feel on a cinematic level; the textures and colors, the shots and the sets as well as the costumes. The nicotine‑stained walls, the washed‑out council estates, the cluttered bedrooms and worn pub interiors, the harsh daylight and murky interiors, all combine into a visual world that feels completely lived‑in. It’s not nostalgia, it’s immersion.
Stephen Graham’s Combo is one of the most disturbingly realistic characters I’ve seen in this territory. There are clues early on that he’s dangerous, that something is rotting inside him, but the way his violence finally erupts is still a genuine shock. He’s not a cartoon fascist; he’s charismatic, funny, intermittently tender, and then suddenly monstrous. Meadows understands that this is how hate works in real life; it doesn’t announce itself in jackboots and banners, it sidles in through damaged men who offer belonging before they demand loyalty.
And underneath it all runs that hook: economic precarity and national humiliation curdling into hate. Thatcher’s Britain, the Falklands War, deindustrialization—none of this is explained in speeches, but it’s present in every hallway, every empty lot, every fatherless home. The politics are in the wallpaper, and that’s exactly where they belong in a story about a boy who just wants friends and ends up on the edge of something poisonous.
I loved This Is England as a film about a child trying to find his place in a collapsing world. I also respect it as a clear‑eyed look at how easily that search for belonging can be weaponized. Meadows doesn’t overplay the point; he just lets us watch it happen.
Read full review
★ 9 / 10
Bitter sweet rites of passage story set to skinheads
antplate
'This is England' is a must see for the type of persons who enjoy a good old 'innocence of youth' narrative (including a very comedic, almost cringe inducing…
'This is England' is a must see for the type of persons who enjoy a good old 'innocence of youth' narrative (including a very comedic, almost cringe inducing, 'first kiss' scene) layered with powerful retrospective British realism reflecting early 1980's societal issues of the type that you wont see on any saccharin dipped 'i remember 1982' clip show.
Based largely around the 'skinhead' activities of the early eighties its interesting to note that the story really draws distinctions between the types of skinheads - the nazi/racist and the two-tone/soul loving skinheads.
Much like Mr Meadows other outings which tend to include a lot of relatively unknown and TV only actors/actresses, they all throw in sterling performances, particularly Stephen 'snatch' Graham as 'Combo'(sp.?) and the unknown Thomas Turgoose as young 'Sean'(sp?).
The soundtrack is as usual strategically lined up to help convey with the overall look and feel, with musical styles ranging from reggae (toots and the maytals), punk and two tone. It does however include new music presumably for a soundtrack album sales point of view, what with the most underrated Clayhill covering The Smiths(?).
overall: its as retrospective sharp as it is thought provoking, so if you lived anywhere near this time then see it: you may just like it. I you didn't then learn from this time in history when skin heads were either very open minded or very closed minded.
Read full review
•••
morning_glow your empire r*ped their countries for centuries, so now it's payback time, so stop whining like something unjust is happening to you.