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This Is England

Play trailer Poster for This Is England 2006 1h 38m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
93% Tomatometer 96 Reviews 90% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), who lost his father in the Falklands War, earns the respect of skinheads when he stand up to their teasing. He becomes part of the gang and enjoys hanging out with his new friends. Trouble starts with the return of Combo (Stephen Graham), a racist ex-convict. With the gang divided into two factions, Shaun sides with Combo and, unfortunately, finds in him a father figure.
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This Is England

This Is England

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Critics Consensus

A moving coming-of-age tale that captures the despair among England's working-class youth in the 1980s.

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Critics Reviews

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Joe Clay The Times (UK) 11/02/2022
Shane Meadows’s most personal film is his best, combining the director’s impeccably observed comedy with a gathering storm cloud of ominous ill will. Go to Full Review
Peter Howell Toronto Star 11/09/2007
3/4
How sad and predictable is the fate of those who counsel violence as a means to an end. And yet how poignant it all seems when viewed through Shane Meadows' thoughtful lens. Go to Full Review
Jennie Punter Globe and Mail 11/09/2007
3.5/4
You wouldn't think a film about a group of British skinheads during the early 1980s could be a sweet, nostalgic coming-of-age period piece, but that's the surprise of the authentic, fresh and utterly relevant This Is England. Go to Full Review
Stefan Pape Common Sense Media 05/17/2021
5/5
Simply put, this is one the greatest British films of the 21st century. Go to Full Review
Yasser Medina Cinefilia 08/07/2020
6/10
In the third act I perceive a sentimentality and a reiteration that ends up being trivially unsolvable. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Toni Garcia Cinemanía (Spain) 07/17/2019
4.5/5
A small masterpiece. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Chris H Dec 11 Unpleasant but also thought provoking. Having grown up in the UK in the 1980s, I'm not shocked by any of it though. Thomas Turgoose is excellent, but the most interesting part is Stephen Graham's character trying to accept a friend who is black (and failing). See more Faiz D May 13 Like Elizabeth Weitzman said, 'This is England' is a stunning, staggeringly powerful and an unforgettable work of art. A Must-see! See more thiago s @Thiagostone Apr 17 Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, o elenco é bacaninha, mas ninguém ajudou a melhorar o filme, nem o garoto que é protagonista do filme, a história é fraca, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e mais relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom, See more Liz B 07/26/2024 I am binge watching ‘86, ‘88 and ‘90 for the third or fourth time. These miniseries follow on from Shane Meadows original film of the same name. Quite simply, it is IMPECCABLE in every way. I haven’t watched i5 for a couple of years but I’m once again being blown away by the acting, directing and cinematography. I’ve just watched the harrowing episode where Lol is having her stomach pumped. Realistic to perfection and believe me, I know!! The skilfully crafted story has me hooked every time even though I know what happens. When you watch something of this calibre it’s exciting every time!!! Stephen Graham is incapable of turning out a bad performance as is Vicky McClure. The electricity between McClure and Gilgun is tangible - knocks me ou5 every time. Thanks to each and every one of you!!! ❤️❤️❤️ See more Felipe P 06/29/2023 "Beautiful? I was sixteen and pissed, it wasn't beautiful." Skinheads become friends with a young boy. It won't take long for friends to become like family, and relationships will be stretched to their limits. A powerful movie that brutally confronts us with themes like racism and fascist ideologies. Also, the way the scared, the mistreated, and the bullied can be recruited by misleading methods dubbed as kindness to commit violence and prejudice crimes. With the false promise of adulthood coming from attitude, not age, innocence is lost. Watch with caution, as it may not be for those with faint hearts. See more Lenin P 02/01/2023 Enjoyed this one. Very touching and hard hitting in certain spots. Silly and fun in other spots. Well balanced movie right here. What kind of mother lets her kid hang around with much older skinheads? What kind of mother lets her kid hang out so late at night? What kind of mother doesn't even bat an eye when her 12 year old son starts to date a much older girl? Awful parenting right there. Wasn't aware of this particular war until I saw this film. Looks like England was in really bad shape at the time. It looks like people were really lost and felt hopeless. All this hopelessness coupled in with resentment towards immigrants, made it hard for everyone. This anger lead Combo to go down the path that he did in the movie. He felt that so much was being taken from England. He felt like England had lost its way as a country. So much being taken from the Englishman and he wanted revenge. Poor little Shaun, his father died in the war, his mother is horrible and he has skinheads as best friends. Despite this all, he still manages to be somewhat good. You can clearly see he's a good boy. He just had a lot of bad influences and no real authority figure. He has a good heart, and is very charming with Smell. Thomas Turgoose (Shaun) was so young (at the time) and play his part even better than any adult would/could. My favorite scene was the one where they were hanging out and Shaun makes out with Smell. He takes her out and is a perfect little gentleman. It wasn't anything major, just thought it was really sweet. Plus, Smell was funny with last few lines in the scene. Another great scene was when Shaun and the boys go "hunting." They find themselves in the auditorium of an abandoned school. They all shoot gadget with a BB gun, and the he clocks Shaun. Everyone gets angry at him and he eventually apply to Shaun. To me, this marked the beginning of Shaun being fully accepted into the group. They all hug at the end of the scene, which was both sweet and funny. The music in this movie was awesome. My kind of jams. This film is perfectly balanced and is a damn good watch. Can't wait to watch the rest of the series. I highly recommend this. This gets a LennyReviewz Score of: 8/10 See more Read all reviews
This Is England

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), who lost his father in the Falklands War, earns the respect of skinheads when he stand up to their teasing. He becomes part of the gang and enjoys hanging out with his new friends. Trouble starts with the return of Combo (Stephen Graham), a racist ex-convict. With the gang divided into two factions, Shaun sides with Combo and, unfortunately, finds in him a father figure.
Director
Shane Meadows
Producer
Mark Herbert
Screenwriter
Shane Meadows
Production Co
Big Arty, Warp Films, Ingenious Film Partners
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Jul 27, 2007
Release Date (Streaming)
May 18, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA)
$327.9K
Runtime
1h 38m