This Is England

Thomas Turgoose - Shaun
Stephen Graham - Combo
Jo Hartley - Cynthia Fields
Andrew Shim - Milky
Vicky McClure - Lol
Joseph Gilgun - Woody
Perry Benson - Meggy
George Newton - Banjo
Frank Harper - Lenny
Jack O'Connell - Pukey Nicholls

Shane Meadows semi-autobiographical film is an unsentimental and brutally honest tale of a young boy adopted by a gang of skinheads. Bearing comparison to Alan Clarke's Made in Britain, the emotional, funny and deeply moving tale attempts to reclaim the original spirit of skinheads and provide social commentary on England past and present. Packed with energetic and understated performances, the two that stand out are the natural and cherubic breakthrough display of 13-year-old newcomer Thomas Turgoose and Stephen Graham’s uneasy mixture of vulnerability and violence as the group's shaven-headed leader.

Set in decaying coastal town during the Thatcherite 1980s, This Is England tells the story of Shaun Fields (Thomas Turgoose), a 12-year-old kid growing up without a father in the north of England. Shaun’s father died during the Falklands War, and the scruffy misfit is teased and bullied at school until he’s taken under the wing of a group of skinheads led by easy-going Woody (Joseph Gilgun), the gang contains an Afro-Caribbean member and have an affection for West Indian ska music and skinhead culture. They provide Shaun with direction and camaraderie in his troubled life but their friendship turns darker with the arrival of Combo (Stephen Graham), a racist gang member recently released from prison. Combo’s arrival fractures the group into two, Woody remains true to his love of music and fashion whilst Combo encourages the others to attend National Front meetings and begin threatening Asians in the neighbourhood. But a moment of shocking violence will subsequently shake the racist romanticism from Shaun.