July 1983. It’s the last day of term and that means ‘no uniform day’. In a down-beat coastal town 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) sets out to school in the flares his dad gave him. En route, he is banned from his corner shop for being cheeky, and while everyone gives him jip for his fashion sense (“you look like Keith Chegwin’s son!”) he gives back twice as hard. On the way home he meets Woody (Joe Gilgun), and his gang of skinheads. Contrary to their startling appearance they are friendly and fair-minded. Admittedly a day out with the gang means trashing the new, unoccupied, housing development, whilst dressing up in outlandish costumes, but they are welcoming and they are fun. The skinheads offer Shaun two things he has been missing, friendship and male role models. Shaun’s own father has been killed fighting in the Falklands war. If he’s going to be a skinhead like them, he has to get the look. There is a trip with his mum Cynthia (Jo Hartley) to the local shoe-shop. Unfortunately cherry red Dr Martins don’t come in size fours, but he gets the next best thing. Later that day Lol (Vicky McClure), Woody’s girlfriend, shaves his head. He’s only missing one thing, a Ben Sherman shirt, Woody comes to the rescue and welcomes him to the gang. While Cynthia is less than happy about the new haircut, she is grateful that Shaun has found some friends to spend the summer with while she is out at work. At a house party Shaun meets Smell (Rosamund Hanson), a kooky punk who takes him to the garden shed for his first kiss. Meanwhile, the party is interrupted by Combo (Stephen Graham) who Woody is initially thrilled to see. Fresh from prison where he has just served a three and a half year sentence, Combo soon upsets the younger gang. To the great discomfort of Milky (Andrew Shim), the sole black member of the gang, he embarks on a vicious racist anecdote about his time inside. The next day Combo summons the gang and lectures them about ethnic minorities taking their jobs and the Falklands. Lol is worried, particularly when she sees Shaun kick off against Combo for bringing up the Falklands, the war where his father died. Combo manipulates this, and draws a line asking those with him to cross it. Disgusted, Woody makes to leave. He doesn’t want to be brainwashed. Shaun however, decides to stay and Combo tells him that looking at him is like looking in the mirror; they have both lost people. Combo takes his new gang to a local National Front meeting. On the way back to town, Shaun is given special privileges when he is allowed to sit on the front seat, while the four fully grown men have to make do in the back.

Shaun further gains Combo’s admiration by revealing that he has stolen an England flag from the meeting. The gang terrorise the local neighbourhood, scaring off Indian kids who are playing football, and attempting to spray racist graffiti, though they struggle with the spelling. They trash the corner shop that Shaun has been barred from, robbing the owner, and defecating on the floor.

To mark his affiliation with the gang, Combo tattoos a cross onto Shaun’s finger. They take their booty to Smell’s birthday party, and Woody leaves with Lol saying he has a documentary on Aardvarks that he must watch. The following morning, Combo stops Lol on her way to work. For the first time he seems twitchy and unsure of himself. He tells her that all he has thought of since he went to prison is how much he loves her, and the one night they shared. He gives her a box he made inside, but Lol rejects him straight, the best night of his life, was the worst night of her life. She walks away incensed and Combo bursts into tears. Milky is walking a girl home when Combo approaches him to buy an ounce of hash.

With Shaun, Smell, and Combo’s thuggish friends they all get stoned. Combo and Milky initially bond – Combo talks about the original ’69 skinheads and their shared love of reggae music. For his part Milky talks about the beauty of his family life, and extends an open welcome to Combo.

While Milky is describing his close, happy family however, a look of pure hatred creeps across Combo’s face. In a fit of anger he beats Milky and then turns on his friends. Shaun is left outside crying hysterically. Back at home, Shaun looks through old pictures of his dad with his Mum. He takes the once cherished flag to the beach where he hurls it into the sea.This Is England