Synopsis for
This Is England (2006)

A coming-of-age tale set in 1983 on the streets of a small English coastal town...

After being bullied at school, 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) comes across a small band of Skinheads lead by Woody (Joseph Gilgun), a charismatic and benevolent teenager who befriends the boy immediately. Bringing him into the fold as one of their own, Woody quickly initiates Shaun as a Skinhead to the dismay of his widowed mother. Having lost his father in the Falklands War, Shaun gleefully embraces his new found friends (and look) until the group is split with the arrival of Combo (Stephen Graham), an older, nationalist skinhead just released from prison. Once friends, now bitter rivals, Combo and Woody divide the group along political lines. Blaming England's economic woes, growing unemployment and post-war grievances on the influx of foreign minorities, Combo persuades Shaun and other members of the pack to make a stand, preserving England for the English. After attending a meeting of right-wing nationalists, Combo takes his new found gang of hooligans to threaten the local Pakistani community. In his contempt for others, Combo begins to reveal his own emotional battles with loss, loneliness and isolation. When his romantic advances are later rebuffed by Woody's girlfriend and former fling, Lol (Vicky McClure), Combo turns his hate, envy and prejudicial rage against one member of the group to disastrous effect... changing Shaun's viewpoint in an instant.

~BD