Joe Cornish, best known as one half of comedy duo Adam and Joe, makes his feature film debut with this tongue-in-cheek alien invasion movie. The scene is Bonfire Night in South London. A group of teens in hoodies are the unlikely heroes who fight off a hoard of monsters in order to defend their estate and save the day.

Nurse Sam (Jodie Whittaker) is walking home to her flat in a nearby tower block when she is held at knifepoint by a gang of masked and hooded youths who take her phone and purse. Just as they are about to get away with her possessions, Sam is saved in a most unlikely way – a small meteorite falls from the sky and the muggers are attacked by a small, white-furred, alien creature that leaps from the wreckage. Pretty soon there’s an all-out alien invasion underway. Sam and the rest of the neighbourhood gang have to join forces in their mission to save their turf.

With authentic street dialogue (Cornish supposedly spent a lot of time researching this) and a terrific young cast, Attack The Block is a welcome addition to the great British tradition of genre-spoofing. Cornish takes up the mantle from Edgar Wright with aplomb (and, in homage, casts Nick Frost as the local drug dealer). This film is as much fun as you can have without going on a rollercoaster ride this summer.