Attack the Block (2011)
There is a moment in the opening minutes of Attack the Block where a gang of London teenagers mug a young woman at knifepoint, goading and jeering as she runs away in terror. It is the very first thing we see them do. And from that point on, I spent the entire film wishing I could like them, knowing I never would. That is a spectacular way to sink your own movie before it has barely begun.
Joe Cornish's sci-fi comedy has built up quite the cult following over the years, and I genuinely wish I could see what they see in it. The premise is solid enough: a south London housing estate comes under attack from alien creatures, and the local youth have to fight back. On paper, it has the bones of something fun. The sort of scrappy, high-concept B-movie energy that made Shaun of the Dead such a joy, where ordinary people in a recognisable setting suddenly have to deal with something completely extraordinary. But Shaun of the Dead gave you characters you were rooting for before the dead started walking. Here, the introductory act is essentially an extended exercise in making you despise everyone on screen.
And it is not as though the film seems aware of this as a problem. That is what really gets under my skin. When the aliens do show up and the lads go to "tool up," we are treated to a montage of bats and machetes being retrieved from bedroom hiding spots, scored and framed like it is something cool. Something to cheer. The film does not interrogate this. It does not hold it at arm's length or ask you to sit with the discomfort. It wraps the whole thing in genre packaging and expects the fun of the alien-fighting to wash away the genuine nastiness of what came before. For me, it never does. You cannot just launder deeply antisocial behaviour by putting glowing black monsters in the same postcode.
I kept waiting for the pivot. The moment where the film earns a bit of goodwill back, where the characters are forced to genuinely reckon with who they are and what they have done. There are gestures in that direction, but they feel cursory at best. The script seems far more interested in the genre mechanics than in doing any real work with its characters.
And then there is the performance problem. A lot of the cast struggle badly with the material. The dialogue, packed with slang and street vernacular, lands with a clunk more often than not. There is very little natural rhythm to the line readings, and some of the supporting players sound like they are doing an impression of a roadman accent rather than actually inhabiting one. It drains any tension or comedy out of scenes that desperately need both. The whole thing starts to feel artificial in a way that only makes the already grim subject matter feel worse.
I have seen films that ask you to spend time with unpleasant people and come away understanding why. Imperial Dreams does something genuinely thoughtful with a young man trying to pull free of exactly the kind of world Attack the Block treats as a backdrop for laughs. That film earns its empathy. This one just assumes it.
One and a half stars. A high-concept misfire that I found unpleasant almost from the first frame. The alien design is decent, and I will give it that much. Everything else, I am afraid, is not for me.
Rating: ★½ | Year: 2011 | Watched: 2026-07-31
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel · Studiocanal Presents Amazon Channel · HBO Max
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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