Somers Town

Tomo, who has run from Nottingham to London, and Marek, who lives with his Polish labourer father, meet in Somers Town near King's Cross. Neither has money, a plan or anywhere to go. Their friendship starts when they fall for the same French waitress. Shane Meadows directed. Thomas Turgoose, whom he had worked with on This Is England, plays Tomo; Piotr Jagiello plays Marek. The film is black and white and under seventy minutes, an interlude Meadows deliberately kept light after the weight of This Is England. Its funding caused argument. The money came from Eurostar and the characters take the train to Paris at the end; some critics read the whole thing as a long advertisement. Meadows argued the financing never entered the story. The film is built on observation rather than incident: two boys with empty time, the neighbourhood, food, boredom. Turgoose's near-improvised performance keeps it alive. Who it is for: viewers who like British social realism and small-scale friendship films. Who it is not for: anyone looking for plot; the film goes almost nowhere and does not want to.