This is England - Toronto International Film Festival

Set in 1983 against a backdrop of Thatcher era Britain This is England Focus' on 11 year old Shaun who is trying to deal with the loss of his father (who died in the Faulklands war) as well as being bullied at school. Before long he falls in with an older gang of boys and girls who act as a kind of surrogate family and protect him from being picked on and although many of them are skinheads they are non-racist and basically harmless. Everything is fine until the former leader of the gang Combo returns from jail. Combo is aggressive and with racist tendencies with ties to the National Front. He soon breaks the group apart taking some of the members along (including Shaun) promising a better country with his radical political agenda.

Director Shane Meadows does a brilliant job of illustrating the atmosphere and social status of this slice of England in 1983. The characters are well defined and even Combo who could have easily been portrayed as a monster is shown to have many layers beneath his anger and emotional problems. First time actor Thomas Turgoose proves himself as a true natural in the role of Shaun (who in fact is based largely on director Meadows.) The film also touches on the history of skinheads instead of painting them all with a stereotypically negative brush. The soundtrack is great and the shots and locations are perfect. Worth checking out.