User Reviews

As good a picture of England pre and post Brexit as I've seen in doc form (or scripted, for that matter) - unvarnished. Added bonus is the film finds time to introduce us to some fascinating characters, whether you agree with them or not. Film-maker deserves kudos for getting so many people, of all stripes, to speak so frankly.

A touching real-life documentary about Hoxton.

Zed Nelson really got to the Heart of the community with this documentary.

How the last of a dying bread is taken over by money and greed and swept to one side. The heart of the east end ripped out.

Very well made documentary on a pressing matter. However, it's a shame they had to push such an evidently biased view (on Brexit).

Recommended if you want to learn more about gentrification and it's devastating impact on working class people in the UK.

Interesting variety of characters, shame about the pro-EU propaganda in it. Overall sad to see the destruction of local communities because of corporatism and slack policies on planning permission.

This is a very entertaining yet thought provoking look into the emotive topic of gentrification. I thought the film was quite ambitious in its attempt to look into the various forces causing gentrification yet it has managed to keep the film grounded and personable by looking at it through the eyes of those directly involved or affected by it. The film is wonderfully shot which perhaps is not surprising as it was apparently made by an award winning photographer). The absence of a narrator is refreshing as it lets you come to your own conclusions on such a complex issue. The editing was particularly well crafted as it managed to weave together a variety of emotive topics into a compelling and layered vision of gentrification which could easily have overwhelmed the film. Instead its a poignant portrait of a changing London in the 21st century. Highly recommended.

Some reviewers on here seem to think the film is a celebration of xenophobia or a pro-EU propoganda piece. These people have missed the point. It is not even entirely about condemning the property developers and new businesses that are changing the street that older residents have known and loved for many years. It is about the impact of often bewildering change and how it impacts the people who have to live with the consequences. They speak in their own words which may be a bit racist or non-PC in other ways, but the tone remains authentic. It is not scripted or polished and is all the better for it. Many of the stories being told are almost heartbreaking as they unfold on camera (Colleen and Serge's are especially poignant).

The photography is almost elegiac in tone focusing on what is disappearing even as the film is made. The constant contrast between the height of the new builds and their penthouse 'king of the world' vistas versus the sadness and humanity at street level is beautifully captured. A lovely and sad film.

Beautifully shot. Does a great job at getting across the atmosphere of the area and the people that live there. A glips into the lives of those who are often forgotten.

I changed my opinion about the intention/standing of the director on some key topics a few times while watching it... and that is good in a documentary, for it shows that it manages to reflect real life complexity, where there is a not a clear-cut judgement on the issue of gentrification, or Brexit, and their causes and consequences. But beyond that, the movie makes you think about life through some remarkable individuals... And with beautiful photography and a great choice of music, melancholic clarinet that reminded me of Woody Allen's soundtrack for New York...

As a run-of-a-mill portrayal of a London community undergoing gentrification, this is a good stab. Unfortunately, it gets caught up in the story it decided to tell before gathering materials: the working-class community are worthy but floored, the gentrifiers are good when they're European but bad when they're capitalists, etc. A bunch of scenes (e.g. the artist in the PR agency) appear scripted to no purpose, and some pretty relevant facts (e.g. the garage mechanic being 'pushed out' but profiting from the sale of his property beyond any prospects of his run-down, eye-sore premises) are left out. Which is a pity, because the nuance (still visible in much of the film) is what's interesting.

The film is poorly shot and edited, and has no clear story driving it. But apart from being a bad piece of filmmaking, it is also a celebration of Brexit. There are sentences such as: "there is not one butcher left in the street. I mean, there is one, but he's not British." "This shop closed and who took over? French people!"

In this film it isn't clear whether the director is celebrating Brexit's success, or deploring the "end of an epoch". Well, the two topics aren't linked. The growth of a city like London is similar to that of any capital in the world. It is a movement created by over-urbanisation. The more demand, the more the prices go up. This for instance would be a really interesting topic if it were treated properly instead of listening to people's ranting, interviewees who have nothing to say, but stereotypes straight out of the Sun.

All in all, this film is really bad, is xenophobic, and has this mood for old Reactionary political thinking that gives you goosebumps in the spine.

The editing and cinematography were pretty bad. The narrative was convuluted, nevertheless, hearing these different perspectives reveals a representative reaction to Brexit and an awareness made to the locals who are 'losing' their home.