Social realism is an artistic movement that depicts social and economic hardships through unvarnished portraits of life struggles, often depicting working class lives as heroic. As a film genre, social realism aims to accurately portray life and society through realistic settings, events, film techniques, and characters. It commonly uses non-professional actors, semi-improvised scripts, and actual locations to achieve authenticity and draw audiences into the stories. Popular British social realism films include Trainspotting, Billy Elliot, Kes, Fish Tank, and This is England, with Trainspotting providing a realistic and impactful view of the struggles of young drug addicts.