Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

England, 1983. 12-year old Shaun is aimless and bored. Into this void steps a bunch of young people who make Shaun feel like he belongs. They happen to be skinheads and are possibly not the best influence on Shaun...Great movie. Powerful examination on neo-Nazi, bigoted, skinhead culture in the UK in the early 1980s. The story is a metaphor for disaffected youth everywhere, and the evils of racism disguised as patriotism.Solid performances all round. Stephen Graham is great as the skinhead leader. Thomas Turgoose puts in a particularly good performance for a 13/14-year old.

This Is England sends a strong message. Whether you view it as being anti-fascist or promoting racist and anti-social violent behavior, you can't underestimate the power this film packs. It's an awesomely raw view on the skinhead epidemic that plagued England in the 70's and 80's. It has some very gripping moments, with slightly not so gripping moments, but pass the hour mark and this film really kicks into gear. A great film that studies not only the Neo-Nazi movement, but also characterizes the change of people in it. The two opposing gangs are so polar that you can feel the full motives of both groups. An excellent, but not perfect, British film that has it all for everyone.

This Is England is most definitely one of the very best British films of the twenty-first century, and for me ranks as Shane Meadows most outstanding to date. Meadows draws on his own personal experiences as a skinhead during the early 1980's. This Is England is set during the summer months of 1983 at the time of "Thatcher's Britain" and indeed the era of the skinheads, punk, racism and fascism.Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is a lonely 11 year old kid growing up on a rough council estate in the North Of England. He is grieving the sudden loss of his father after he was killed in the horrific Falklands War. Encountering incessant bullying at school, Shaun meets a gang of friendly, multi-cultural, dope-smoking skinheads, headed by Woody (Joseph Gilgunn) who immediately are drawn to his sadness and confusion and subsequently take the boy under their wing. However when one of the gang's old members Combo, (Stephen Graham) a vicious, racist thug and bully, is released from prison, Shaun is manipulated by Combo's way of thinking and racist attitude and turns into a thug himself, convinced he would be making his late Dad proud. After Combo brutally beats up Shaun's friend Milky (Andrew Shim) and exposes his own deep vulnerability and unbalanced mental state, Shaun comes back down to earth (and his senses), realising the lifestyle he'd been leading was not really for him, nor would it have made his Dad proud.Though the first half of This Is England is touchingly funny, drawing on the allure and fun of being in a gang, the second half soon makes way for a much darker, raw and gritty nature, with many violent episodes, highlighting the brutally stark racism that existed at the time (and still does unfortunately!. Shane Meadows shrewdly evokes the total working-class despair of "Thatcher's Britain", capturing the era impeccably well and is all impressively authentic in detail.Like every other of Shane Meadows absolutely superb films, the acting and dialogue is astutely naturalistic, drawing you in from the opening scene. Most outstanding of all is the immensely talented youngster Thomas Turgoose who's almost stark performance never once shrinks from being anything but powerful and convincing. Indeed the cast are all thoroughly excellent that includes another notably powerful turn from the ever-brilliant Stephen Graham as Combo; Joseph Gilgunn as the lovable, kindly rogue Woody who is the leader of the gang that Shaun first joins and who also refuses to be brainwashed by Combo's unhinged way of thinking and racial hatred; Jo Hartley as Shaun's mum Cynth who upon meeting the gang headed by Woody becomes charmed by them , after having had serious reservations when first seeing her young son with a shaved head; Andrew Shim as the friendly Milky; Vicky McClure as the more sensible, level-headed Lol and Rosamund Hanson as the eccentric but likable Smell.Truly an out and out masterpiece, This Is England is an often funny, often shocking and often deeply moving portrait of a moment in British cultural history.Ian Phillips

It's 1983 and school is out. Twelve-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is a lonely boy growing up in a grim coastal town in northern England, whose father died fighting in the Falklands War. Over the course of the summer holiday he befriends a group of local skinheads. With his pent- up anger and frustration, Shaun finds exactly what he needs in the gang – mischief, mayhem and brotherhood. He also meets the volatile and boorish Combo (Stephen Graham), an older skinhead who sees himself in Shaun. Adopting Shaun as his protégé, Combo leads the gang down a hate-spewing path that culminates in an irreversible act of violence. An uncanny evocation of a quietly pivotal moment in time, THIS IS ENGLAND bears witness to a young boy's coming of age while Britain's empire fades, Thatcherism devastates the working class, and skinhead culture takes a violent turn toward racist nationalism. Ambitious, deeply personal, and beautifully realized, THIS IS ENGLAND firmly establishes Shane Meadows as one of the most compelling filmmakers of his generation.