The Firm

More than once, Meadows mentions Alan Clarke, director of Scum and The Firm, as a ‘god’. ‘He was showing us what was going on in the housing estates. And The Firm had a profound influence on me because it just had such a raw power and it felt so real. And it showed me how to make something that could feel like a documentary, but with a strong narrative drive. That raw realism is something I’ve always strived for in films like This is England.’