This Is England, the “masterpiece” British drama starring Stephen Graham and Vicky McClure, is now streaming for free in the UK. Acclaimed upon release, the 2006 film spawned a highly-successful franchise.
The ’80s-set drama follows 12-year-old Shaun Fields (Thomas Turgoose), who becomes involved with a skinhead gang in the East Midlands. Though he thinks he’s found a group to be proud of, their extremist views become detrimental to his upbringing.
Written and directed by Shane Meadows, the film is now available to stream in the UK on Channel 4 after being aired on Film4 last night. You’ll have to hurry, though, as the listing is due to expire on 14 May.
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In addition to Graham and McClure, who play Combo and Lol respectively, the supporting cast for the film includes Jo Hartley, Joe Gilgun, Andrew Shim, Rosamund Hanson, Chanel Cresswell, Michael Socha and a very young Jack O’Connell.
This Is England was acclaimed by critics upon its release, and it won the award for Best British Film at the 61st BAFTAs. Meadows, who has directed Dead Man’s Shoes and Somers Town, also received a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the British drama currently has an impressive approval rating of 93% from 96 reviews, while the audience score is 90%. On IMDb, the user rating is at 7.7/10 from 135,000 logs.
“It’s raw, gritty and comes like a wallop of nostalgia back to England in the ’80s,” wrote one fan as they called it a “masterpiece”, adding: “Honourable mention has to be Combo (Graham) who stole the show in a masterclass of acting.”
“Any fan of Meadows’ previous work will love it and no doubt delight in his continuing growth as a filmmaker, but everyone should see it regardless as it is another fine example of British film at its rawest and best,” noted another viewer.
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A third echoed this sentiment as they called it a “great piece of filmmaking”, adding: “I was gripped throughout the film and it also gave me plenty to think about afterwards. What more can you ask for when going to the movies?”
The film was the launchpad for a successful franchise, with three sequel TV series – titled ’86, ’88 and ’90 respectively – being released on Channel 4 in the 2010s. A fourth series is rumoured to be in development, though there’s no official confirmation.
This Is England is streaming on Channel 4.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.