Will Proudfoot is a quiet and shy 11-year-old boy from a family that belongs to the strict Plymouth Brethren church. Will is forbidden from watching films or television and is made to leave his classroom when a documentary is shown in class. In the corridor, he meets Lee Carter, the 12-year-old worst-behaved boy in school, thrown out of another class for bad behaviour. After they accidentally break a fish bowl, Lee volunteers to take the blame in exchange for Will's watch, which belonged to his dead father. Moreover, Lee demands that Will perform the stunts in a film Lee is making to enter the Screen Test Young Film-Makers' Competition.
At Lee's house, Will finds out Lee intends to use home video equipment owned by his 16-year-old bullying older brother Lawrence to make a homage to First Blood. While hiding from Lawrence, Will accidentally sees the film; becomes inspired, he joins Lee in the production. Will enthusiastically does several dangerous action scenes, culminating in the two boys becoming 'blood brothers' after Lee saves him from drowning. Lee finds Will's sketchbook and incorporates some of the ideas into his film script. The two become best friends, but Will has to keep it secret from his family and the increasingly interfering Brother Joshua of the Brethren, who has designs on his mother.
Didier Revol, a 15-year-old popular French exchange student, finds Will's sketchbook and asks to join the film, and Will agrees. This snowballs into the whole school being part of the production, and Will being included with the cool sixth-formers. Lee does not like this, as he is no longer in control. While filming the last sequence at a disused power station, their tension culminates in a fight, and Lee storms off. Due to Didier's carelessness, part of the unstable structure collapses, trapping Will. The rest of the kids, including Didier, flee the scene. Lee returns to rescue his friend. Lee gets hurt and is hospitalised. Lawrence visits Lee, but is angry about the broken camera.
Will's mother, from whom he has struggled to hide his activities, finally realises that her son must be allowed to be himself. Her family leaves the Brethren. The film is never submitted to the competition as they miss the deadline. Lawrence looks at Lee's footage and he is impressed. He also sees Lee defending him when Will condemns his behavior, which was accidentally filmed. With Will's help, Lawrence adds a part in which he acts himself – including a message for his brother.
When Lee leaves the hospital, he is brought to a cinema. His film is shown before the main feature (much to the enjoyment of the audience) and the two boys reconcile.
Son of Rambow is a project that Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith – collectively known as Hammer & Tongs – worked on for some years. Its development was interrupted when they were asked to make The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and it is their second major feature film. It was inspired by Jennings' own experiences as a child in the 1980s, when video equipment first became available to the public, and the film recreates the atmosphere of an English comprehensive school of the time, using a soundtrack of both familiar and lesser-known pop tracks from the era.
Reception
Son of Rambow received generally favourable reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 73% based on reviews from 118 critics. The site's consensus is: "Undeniable heart and charming young leads save the film's nostalgic storyline from suffering at the hands of predictability [sic]." On Metacritic the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review and wrote: "After the movie, I imagined its writer-director, Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) being more than a little
