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This Is England

2006 1h 38m Drama List
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 Times (UK) 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. Nov 2, 2022 Full Review Hank Sartin Time Out Rated: 4/5 Nov 18, 2011 Full Review Joshua Rothkopf Time Out Rated: 4/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Stefan Pape Common Sense Media Simply put, this is one the greatest British films of the 21st century. Rated: 5/5 May 17, 2021 Full Review Yasser Medina Cinefilia In the third act I perceive a sentimentality and a reiteration that ends up being trivially unsolvable. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 6/10 Aug 7, 2020 Full Review Toni Garcia Cinemanía (Spain) A small masterpiece. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 4.5/5 Jul 17, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Liz B 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!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/26/24 Full Review Rosco R No need. Just watch. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/06/24 Full Review Gemma B Great movie, enjoyed watching it but I did not like the ending.. they were horrible and racist towards people of different colour, black and Asian, and I don't feel that there was anything about the movie that showed it was wrong to treat people like that. The story definitely pulls you in and it's enjoyable the whole way through until you realise that the film is just a promotion of violence and racism.. **spoiler** the movie literally finishes with a white man beating a black man. There is no moral to that. As I say, great movie, just needs a better message behind it Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/01/23 Full Review Felipe P "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. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/29/23 Full Review Lenin P 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 Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member BRILLIANT BRUV CRACKING MOTION PICTURE THAT LITTLE BLOKE SURE KNOWS HOW TA PULL A BIRD Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
This Is England

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Cast & Crew

Dead Man's Shoes 60% 91% Dead Man's Shoes Awaydays 39% 33% Awaydays Crossing the Line 43% 43% Crossing the Line The Walker 55% 28% The Walker Green Street Hooligans 46% 87% Green Street Hooligans Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

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
Warp Films, Ingenious Film Partners, Big Arty
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
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