Attack the Block is a 2011 British science fiction comedy horror film written and directed by Joe Cornish and starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, and Nick Frost.

Its storyline centres on a teenage street gang who have to defend themselves from predatory alien invaders on a council estate in South London on Guy Fawkes Night.

Released on 11 May 2011, Attack the Block underperformed at the box office but received positive reception from the critics, with particular praise for Cornish's direction and Boyega's performance.

[5] On Guy Fawkes Night, trainee nurse Samantha Adams is mugged by a gang of teenage hoodlums: Pest, Dennis, Jerome, Biggz and leader Moses.

Hoping to gain fame and fortune, they take the dead animal to their acquaintance, cannabis dealer Ron and his boss Hi-Hatz, a local gang leader, who instead recruits Moses to work for him.

After one kills Dennis's pet pitbull Pogo, the gang flee but are intercepted by two policemen accompanying Samantha, and Moses is arrested.

The gang move upstairs to the flat where Tia, Dimples, Dionna and Gloria live, believing that their security gate will keep them safe.

Entering Ron's flat, they find Hi-Hatz waiting, who prepares to shoot Moses but he is then suddenly attacked and killed by the rest of the aliens who break in through the window.

In the aftermath, Moses, Pest, Brewis and Ron are arrested and held responsible by the arriving police for all of the recent deaths around the block that night.

According to the DVD's making-of featurette, the teenagers were selected from drama classes of London council estate schools and then had to go through eight auditions before being offered a part.

[8] The name Wyndham Tower appears on the left of the entrance to the fictional tower block, referencing the English science-fiction writer John Wyndham, author of the 1953 novel, 'The Kraken Wakes' , which similarly begins with aliens invading Earth from outer space, as well as other science-fiction monster works such as 'Day of the Triffids'.

According to the DVD commentary, the echolocation noises made by the creatures were a combination of dolphin sonar mixed digitally with the grunts and snarls of dozens of other animals, and even a woman screaming.

[14] US distributors were concerned that American audiences might not understand the strong South London accents, and may have even used subtitles if it were to be released in the United States.

Play.com released an exclusive Blu-ray and DVD double play edition, with a glow-in-the-dark sleeve, featuring the bio-luminescent jaws of one of the creatures.

[17] The soundtrack for the film was an original score composed by British electronic music group Basement Jaxx, and Steven Price except for a few songs featured in the film but not on the soundtrack (such as the 1993 rap track "Sound of da Police" by KRS-One, and the 2006 reggae track "Youths Dem Cold" by Richie Spice, played during the end credits).

[19] In North America, the film's theatrical run began in July 2011 and was a box office flop[20] despite receiving overall good reviews.

Its theatrical run began in July 2011 and, in limited release for less than two months with 66 cinemas at its peak, it managed to gross US$1,024,175 in North America.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Effortlessly mixing scares, laughs, and social commentary, Attack the Block is a thrilling, briskly-paced sci-fi yarn with a distinctly British flavor.

[26] Christ Tilly at IGN gave it four stars saying "Cornish directs with the confidence of a seasoned pro" and calling the film "a blast from start-to-finish.

"[27] Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy awarded the movie four stars, saying that it is "exactly the kind of distinctly homegrown product that the British film industry should be making".