This is England (2007)
Directed by Shane Meadows
***1/4
Growing up isn't easy, no matter where you live. However, if it happens to be 1983, you're 11 years old, and your friends are skinheads, that kinda complicates things a bit more. Shane Meadows wrote and directed this semi-autobiographical tale by placing this young boy at the center of a film which could have otherwise been just another Trainspotting, with violence instead of drugs. But with the child's perspective, the camaraderie it brings to the group as well as the great shock when things start to fall apart . . . well, it's no wonder this was such a big hit in the UK. It may be too grim for many, but highly suggestive about why some kids end up in gangs.
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