They will see the lads—hands in pockets, gaze fixed on the middle distance, standing on a damp high street under the glow of a fried chicken shop sign. And they will understand.
In the three-part arc "The Weekend," Roberts follows Tommy from Friday payday to Monday morning. We see the highs: a win at the dog track, a messy kiss in a kebab shop queue. We see the lows: the hangover, the regret, the silence on Sunday afternoon when the house feels too big and too small simultaneously. Jack Roberts English Lads
That episode went viral, amassing two million views in a week. Why? Because it lacked cynicism. They will see the lads—hands in pockets, gaze
The Guardian ran a piece last month titled "The Lads Aren't Alright," arguing that Roberts’ films fetishize the decline of industrial Britain without offering any political solutions. Others argue that his portrayal of women—often fleeting, often as "birds" or "the missus"—is reductive. We see the highs: a win at the
But who exactly is the "English Lad" according to Roberts? He describes him as: "The bloke at the end of the street. The one who fixes his own car, drinks warm beer that costs too much, screams at the telly during the match, but who reads poetry when no one is looking." The series Jack Roberts English Lads started as a lockdown project. Confined to his flat in Manchester, Roberts began filming his flatmates—chancers, grafters, and dreamers. Episode one, titled "Sunday League," followed a group of amateur footballers as they trudged through the mud of a public park for the pride of the estate.