This Is England (2006)
Dir. Shane Meadows

7.5/10 – I really enjoyed this film and how it portrayed the time it was set in, especially when hearing about it a lot from my dad. While the themes were heavy and quite nasty at times, it implemented some comedy in nice ways, especially when Shaun was hanging around Woody and his friends. The music was also a highlight for me, because soul, reggae and blues are some of my favourite genres.

The most memorable scene in This Is England for me was when Combo was trying to convince Woody and his friends to ‘join him’ after spewing all of his white supremacist and nationalist ideas to them. This really marks a turning point in the film; Shaun goes from trying to fit in with Woody, to following Combo instead. I think that this scene also shows how children can be really impressionable, because Combo speaks about Shaun’s dad in a really compassionate way.