Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Masterfully charted and acted.

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

As its title implies, This Is England isn't a hyperstylized head-trip a la "Trainspotting" but a straightforward calling to account.

San Francisco Chronicle by David Wiegand

The script and direction are virtually flawless.

Salon by Andrew O'Hehir

One of the year's best movies...It's one of the simplest and best re-creations of downscale urban England during the gritty post-punk years ever put on screen, and it's both upsetting and very funny.

The A.V. Club by Noel Murray

Taut, tense, and self-consciously stylish.

Newsweek by David Ansen

It has the feel of a classic coming-of-age story. It's the sleeper of the summer.

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

A modest, near-flawless gem, This Is England is the fifth feature by the young British director Shane Meadows, doing his best work since he first hit the festival scene in the mid-1990s with his hilarious, raw-hewn shorts “Small Time.”

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Crust

The writer-director brilliantly juxtaposes the personal and the political, bookending a stirring coming-of-age drama with the provocative opening and an equally affecting end sequence.

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

The result is a film marked by eruptions of brutal violence, but also passages of extraordinary tenderness.

Premiere

This Is England may be best summed up as a "coming-of-age" story that puts aside the clichéd baggage often carried by the description and ultimately ends up being moving, genuinely funny, thought-provoking, and highly recommended.

Premiere by Eric Alt

This Is England may be best summed up as a "coming-of-age" story that puts aside the clichéd baggage often carried by the description and ultimately ends up being moving, genuinely funny, thought-provoking, and highly recommended.

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

British director Shane Meadows' strongest film to date is also his most personal: A stylish fictionalization of his own wayward youth, spent among a group of working-class skinheads in Thatcher's England.

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

The 34-year-old Meadows has assembled an effective cast, especially newcomer Thomas Turgoose as Shaun and veteran Stephen Graham as Combo.

New York Daily News by Jack Mathews

Turgoose, in his first film role, is entirely convincing as the strong-willed but naïve Shaun, and Graham is a genuine fright as the feral prototype of the violent skinhead culture on the horizon.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

Sad, menacing, empathetic story.

Variety

With its knockout lead perfs and taut if slightly familiar construction, this '80s-set dramedy about a skinhead gang reps Meadows' most fluently made film so far.

Village Voice

Facile pop psychology is the real tragedy here, a double disappointment given the film's smart take on pop culture.