Review of This Is England (2007) by Matthew G — 28 Sep 2010

No character is drawn in broad strokes or treated as some concept of a person, which is where the deep wellspring of humanism that lies beneath the film comes from. The events that lead up to the tragic climax feel almost inevitable, but in between the damn good time you're having watching Shaun get pissed and the electric tension of a few key scenes, it rushes home with the unpreventable force of a train off its rails.

And when the climax occurs, it is a heart-rending one, as innocence is lost and youth seems far off.