Set in 1983, This is England follows Shaun, a 12-year old boy who's father died in the Falklands war. One day, walking home from school, he meets a group of skinheads who adopt him into their group and treat him as an equal, leading to him becoming friends with them and consequently drawn further into the skinhead lifestyle - away from the clothes and haircut and more into the racism and vandalism.
It's grim, it's depressing - yet there is a lot of imagery I recognise from growing up in 80s Britain, and a lot of the same attitudes. Which is kind of depressing in itself. A coming of age story that's firmly grounded in the harsh realities of life, it's a good movie - just don't expect to feel good after watching it.
It's the first Shane Meadows movie I've seen - but I'm going to make sure I dig out more of his back catalogue.
My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.9 / 10
Running time: 101 mins
IMDB link
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