Lindsay Anderson’s 1968 film, *If…*, written by David Sherwin, centers on three schoolboys—Malcolm McDowell, Richard Warwick, and David Wood—who plan acts of retribution. The movie unfolds as a sequence of scenes separated by title cards, initially illustrating the strict regulations governing these boys at their prestigious school and the arbitrary consequences imposed by older students, led by Robert Swann’s menacing Rowntree and aloof administrators. This setting includes strange traditions, Latin phrases, and obscure English public school jargon—a hallmark of British boarding school stories, naturally including suggestive references. Later in *If…*, the narrative shifts toward a more dreamlike quality where reality blurs with fantasy, culminating in the boys, along with a girl from outside the school, acquiring weapons and carrying out a violent attack. The 1960s were marked by conflicts like the Vietnam War, broadcast globally, alongside youth rebellions in places such as America and France. The elite British schools also required military training. Within *If…*, the boys' rooms are decorated with magazine images of war scenes, implying that violence is inevitable when young people grow up in a world saturated with it; this connection evokes similarities to Aki Kaurismäki’s *The Match Factory Girl*. The film similarly captures the changing sexual attitudes of 1960s Britain and the resulting frustration experienced by these boys who witness open sexuality in magazines and on the streets, but are denied access to it. While many films explored the emergence of a counterculture during this time, few offer as much understanding for these young people as Anderson and Sherwin’s work does. The most significant weakness of *If…* is that the actors portraying the teenagers were actually in their mid-20s when filming took place. It's easy to imagine how much more impactful the movie would be if actual sixth-formers were involved, although I suspect the (limited) sexual content made this impractical. Nevertheless, *If…* rightfully holds its status as a classic.

Source on TMDB