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Shaun is soon befriended by Woody (Joe Gilgun), who leads a small group of skinheads, most of whom are young adults. Although technically a gang, they're not bad sorts, more like a club for social outcasts. Interesting members include obese boy Gadget (Andrew Ellis), light-skinned second-generation Jamaican-English Milky (Andrew Shim), and Smell (Rosamund Hanson), a kindly airhead who becomes Shaun's girlfriend despite a substantial difference in age and height.
A turning point arrives when Combo (Stephen Graham) enters the movie. Combo is a former gang member, hardened and racist from a prison stint. Combo divides the gang, creating a far right splinter group and leaving the apolitical Woody with the more moderate and tolerant members.
How others will see it. This Is England was hailed by British critics. BAFTA, the British version of the Academy Awards, named it Best British Film. Shane Meadows' original screenplay recieved the film's only other nomination. Curiously, Meadows wasn't nominated as Best Director. The movie was ignored by the U.S. Academy Awards, probably because it was more controversial than accessible.
The IMDB user ratings indicate that the young favor it over the old. Even older audiences see it favorably, but some are undoubtedly made uncomfortable by the film's edgy violence, racism, language, vandalism, and what legally qualifies as the sexual abuse of children.
How I felt about it. Some American viewers will compare it to Transpotting, a film I actively disliked. But of all things, this movie reminds me of Hud, the 1963 Paul Newman vehicle. At first glance, Larry McMurtry's American western and Shane Meadows' English skinhead saga appear to have little in common. However, Shaun is like Lonnie, at an impressionable age and influenced by two contrasting mentors. Lonnie had to choose between a moralistic father and reckless older brother. Shaun also has a decision to make. Should he remain under the wing of Woody, a nice guy with a pacifist streak, or should he join up with Combo, who appears to have greater promise but also, like Hud, has a dark side that shows up when he is under the influence. As was the case with Lonnie, Shaun is shocked when his hero's dark side is revealed in all its malice. Shaun repudiates his mentor, and must find his own way, presumably into the light.
Shane Meadows follows in the neorealist footsteps of Vittorio De Sica. De Sica was known for directing low budget documentary-like movies (e.g. Umberto D, The Bicycle Thief) that featured working class amateurs instead of professional actors, in stories that expressed sympathy for the plight of the underclass. That fits This Is England like a glove, except the underclass has its share of bad apples. You can't blame everything on Maggie Thatcher.