Attack the Block (2011)

March 25, 2021 6:41 PM

A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.

Starring John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Franz Drameh (Legends of Tomorrow), Jodie Whittaker;(Doctor Who), and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead). Written and directed by Joe Cornish (Ant-Man, The Kid Who Would Be King). Streaming in the US on Amazon Prime.

posted by DirtyOldTown (14 comments total)

Top 10 favorite all-time film for me. I used to make regular trips to the UK; catching this in the cinema there will always make it extra-special to me.

The creature design, Jodie Whitaker, John Boyega, everything about this film is 10x as good as it needed to be.
posted by FallibleHuman at 7:18 PM on March 25, 2021 [5 favorites]

This movie knocked my dang socks off last year; 11/10, would recommend to absolutely anyone who enjoys science fiction. On top of the A++ writing, acting, everything about it, I really liked the street's eye view of the alien situation - contrast with the MCU or Pacific Rim.
posted by snerson at 7:24 PM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

I love how they managed to make aliens excellently intimidating on a shoestring budget. Also, these days, watching it I think how young Whittaker and Boyega look. I saw it again last month and was reminded how much I liked it.

"It's a big room full of weed. And it's Ron's."
posted by rmd1023 at 6:58 AM on March 26, 2021 [2 favorites]

One of the things I really like is the language, the way the kids speak. Cornish didn't try overly hard to mine for real slang for these kids. Do that and you end up with some sad, David-Ayer-thinks-he-has-seen-some-shit, inevitably-going-to-age-badly garbage. There are like ten or twelve obvious words ("bruv," "strap") sure, because he's not creating an alternate universe.

But the real linguistic gold from these characters is invented, in that way that kids from anywhere at this age develop their own in-jokes, catchphrases, group lingo, etc.

"Allow it"? My kid has already adopted that.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:38 AM on March 26, 2021 [2 favorites]

A criminally underseen classic.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 7:44 AM on March 26, 2021 [4 favorites]

I sssssoooooooo love this movie! This is one of those movies I can watch over and over and it's a joy every time.
posted by miss-lapin at 7:53 AM on March 26, 2021

I saw this at an outdoors double bill in London, paired with Die Hard. An excellent evening (with an unexpected guest appearance from one Alan Rickman).

I liked the film overall but I distinctly remember my main takeaway being that "if that John Boyega chap isn't a massive star in a few years, there's no justice in the world". Even on rewatch there's a real screen presence and charisma.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:16 AM on March 26, 2021 [4 favorites]

I want so many more alien invasion stories like this. It has everything and so much more.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 5:44 PM on March 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

So good! So much fun. I was grabbing my neighbor's arm at the theater in the scary bits. The allegories run thick here, and they're great.
posted by latkes at 8:44 PM on March 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

It's the creature design that I remember most. To have something that remarkable and unique in a low budget monster movie is quit impressive. I could really only root for the robbery victim, though. Sorry.
posted by Beholder at 3:45 AM on March 27, 2021 [2 favorites]

I watched this on Saturday entirely because of this thread. I hadn't heard of it when it came out. So thanks! I thought it was great! It was really dumb in all the best ways. The creature design was fantastic, the concept of an alien invasion mostly happening in this small area was hilarious, the teen ne'er-do-wells were convincing (and I was genuinely touched by how loyal they were to each other), the acting was superb.
posted by joannemerriam at 11:04 AM on March 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

So similar in tone to Dog Soldiers, but so much more self-aware. I guess its class and racial politics are never particularly subtle, but having John Boyega swinging from the Union Jack at the end was a great choice.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 6:29 PM on March 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

Deadline - John Boyega Set To Reunite With Joe Cornish For ‘Attack The Block 2’

Whee!!!!
posted by oh yeah! at 5:27 PM on May 17, 2021 [6 favorites]

One of the things I really like is the language, the way the kids speak.

DirtyOldTown, you might find this 2015 Metafilter thread on Multicultural London English (MLE) interesting: D'ya get me, bruv?
Unfortunately, the main link is to a deleted Youtube, but there is some good stuff in the rest of the post and the comments.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 6:21 PM on May 17, 2021 [2 favorites]