Attack the Block (2011) on Netflix
On Guy Fawkes Night, a South London teenage gang led by Moses hunts a creature that fell from the sky. A local gangster, Hi-Hatz, then recruits Moses, and more objects fall.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.6/10116,336 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes90%
Trailer
Plot summary
On Guy Fawkes Night in South London, a trainee nurse named Samantha Adams is mugged and attacked by a gang of teenagers: Pest, Dennis, Jerome, Biggz and their leader, Moses. A meteorite lands in a car close by, and Samantha gets away. Moses searches the wreck for anything worth taking and a dog-sized creature scratches his face. The gang chases the animal down and kills it, and, hoping for money and fame, they carry the body to Ron, a cannabis dealer who lives in their block. Ron's boss, the gang leader Hi-Hatz, offers Moses work instead. More objects fall from the sky, and the gang arms itself to go after creatures that are larger and far more dangerous.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Attack the Block (2011)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Writer-director Joe Cornish based Attack the Block's premise on his own mugging, adding the alien angle and then interviewing kids in youth groups about what weapons they would use in a real invasion.
- Most of the young cast were unknowns pulled from drama classes at London council estate schools who had to pass eight rounds of auditions, and lead John Boyega only found out about the film from an internet advert.
- The aliens started as two men in gorilla-style suits with animatronic jaws, and Swedish effects house Fido spent four months adding light-absorbing fur, claws and glowing jaws across more than 100 effects shots.
- The creatures' echolocation shrieks were built by mixing dolphin sonar recordings with the grunts and snarls of dozens of other animals, plus a woman screaming.
- Cornish revealed in 2023 that the alien design was partly inspired by his own pet cat, which he said 'engulfs darkness.'
