This Is England (2007)

NEUTRAL

Various

93%

2006, Drama, 1h 38m

RT Critics’ Score: 93% (UNBIASED)
RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 BAFTA Award
14 wins & 16 nominations total

Click to Stream

Critics Consensus

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

Audience Consensus

This Is England is a film that takes you on a journey through the eyes of a young boy who is lost and trying to find his place in the world. It’s a coming-of-age story that is both sweet and nostalgic, but also tough and moving. The clash of subcultures in England is captured perfectly, and the performances are outstanding. It’s a small masterpiece that is a must-see for anyone who loves British cinema. Plus, who doesn’t love a good skinhead movie?

Storyline

This is England: Mods, New Romantics, and Skinheads are the major youth sub-cultures of this very English summer of 1983 and young 12-year-old Shaun is left wandering aimlessly alone and lost during the start of his school holidays, until his chance meeting with Woody and his fun and friendly Skinhead pack. Finding a new lease of life; girls, parties, Ben Sherman shirts, Doc Martin boots and shaven hairstyles young Shaun is welcomed, life during this summer holiday has got a whole lot better. That is until Combo arrives on the scene bitter, dangerous, racist, militant and psychotic life for young Shaun has just approached his first major crossroads. This is England is a look back at the early eighties of British working-class life through the eyes of young Shaun and his new gang, and dealing with the bitterness of outside influences such as racism and xenophobia, of mass unemployment and the fall out of the Falkland’s War; Thatcher’s Britain: Did we ever have it so good? When you see Shaun, ask Him.

Production Company(ies)
Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma

Distributor
NA

Release Type

Filming Location(s)
The Jolly Sailor Inn, Hagnaby Lock, Stickney, Boston, Lincolnshire, England, UK

MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated

Year of Release
2007

Technical Specs

Color:

Color
Sound mix:

Dolby Digital
Aspect ratio:

1.85 : 1
Runtime:

NA
Language(s):

English
Country of origin:

United States
Release date:

Release Date (Streaming): Nov 13, 2007

Genre(s)
Drama

Keyword(s)
starring Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim, Joseph Gilgun, Vicky McClure, directed by Shane Meadows, written by Shane Meadows, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Hank Sartin, Joshua Rothkopf, Peter Howell, Jennie Punter, Richard James Havis, John Hartl, Stefan Pape, Yasser Medina, Toni Garcia, C.H Newell, David ‘Mad Dog’ Bradley, produced by Mark Herbert, MPAA rating, coming-of-age, skinheads, working-class youth, 1980s, father figure, racism, neo-realist, British film, The Smiths, Thatcher’s England, subcultures, violent clash, lost and lonely young boy, sweet, nostalgic, authentic, fresh, utterly relevant, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Hollywood Reporter, Seattle Times, Common Sense Media, Cinemaficionados, Cinemanía (Spain), Father Son Holy Gore, Adelaide Review

Box Office Details

Worldwide gross: $8,481,254
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $12,149,972
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,899
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,324,970

US/Canada gross: $329,379
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $471,858
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,338
US/Canada opening weekend: $18,430
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $26,402
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,417

Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): £1,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA

Cast & Crew

Thomas Turgoose

Stephen Graham

Jo Hartley

Andrew Shim

Joseph Gilgun

Shaun

Combo

Cynth

Milky

Woody

Thomas Turgoose – Shaun
Stephen Graham – Combo
Jo Hartley – Cynth
Andrew Shim – Milky
Joseph Gilgun – Woody
Vicky McClure – Lol
Director – Shane Meadows
Producer – Mark Herbert
Writer – Shane Meadows

Shane Meadows

Mark Herbert

Director

Writer

Producer

Director(s)
Shane Meadows

Writer(s)
Shane Meadows

Producer(s)
Mark Herbert

Film Festivals

Awards & Nominations
Won 1 BAFTA Award
14 wins & 16 nominations total

Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Hank Sartin

Joshua Rothkopf

Peter Howell

Jennie Punter

Richard James Havis

Time Out

Toronto Star

Globe and Mail

Hollywood Reporter

Seattle Times

THIS IS ENGLAND
All Critics (94) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (87) | Rotten (7)
November 18, 2011 | Rating: 4/5

Hank Sartin
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 4/5

Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
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.

November 9, 2007 | Rating: 3/4

Peter Howell
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
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.

November 9, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4

Jennie Punter
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
Its tough but moving neo-realist approach make it one of the better British films of recent times.

November 9, 2007

Richard James Havis
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
It may be the best work to date from the talented 34-year-old writer-director of Twenty Four Seven (1997).

September 7, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4

John Hartl
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
Simply put, this is one the greatest British films of the 21st century.

May 17, 2021 | Rating: 5/5

Stefan Pape
Common Sense Media
In the third act I perceive a sentimentality and a reiteration that ends up being trivially unsolvable. [Full review in Spanish]

August 7, 2020 | Rating: 6/10

Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
A small masterpiece. [Full review in Spanish]

July 17, 2019 | Rating: 4.5/5

Toni Garcia
Cinemanía (Spain)
Meadows captures the violent clash of subcultures in England through the eyes of a lost and lonely young boy.

May 6, 2019 | Rating: 5/5

C.H. Newell
Father Son Holy Gore
Nevertheless a must-see for Smiths’ devotees willing to be deprived of just about everything Smiths.

April 4, 2018 | Rating: 6/10

David ‘Mad Dog’ Bradley
Adelaide Review
It is the war within him–and by extension, within the minds of many embittered, working class young men left behind in Thatcher’s England–that Meadows’s film most strikingly portrays.

August 8, 2009

Leo Goldsmith
Reverse Shot…

Plot
This is England: Mods, New Romantics, and Skinheads are the major youth sub-cultures of this very English summer of 1983 and young 12-year-old Shaun is left wandering aimlessly alone and lost during the start of his school holidays, until his chance meeting with Woody and his fun and friendly Skinhead pack. Finding a new lease of life; girls, parties, Ben Sherman shirts, Doc Martin boots and shaven hairstyles young Shaun is welcomed, life during this summer holiday has got a whole lot better. That is until Combo arrives on the scene bitter, dangerous, racist, militant and psychotic life for young Shaun has just approached his first major crossroads. This is England is a look back at the early eighties of British working-class life through the eyes of young Shaun and his new gang, and dealing with the bitterness of outside influences such as racism and xenophobia, of mass unemployment and the fall out of the Falkland’s War; Thatcher’s Britain: Did we ever have it so good? When you see Shaun, ask Him.

Trivia