 During World War II, teenage boys in a small English town are consumed with jingoism and brutal war games, hoping dearly that the war won t end before they can fight in it. John, one of the younger members, is increasingly torn between these peer group values and his deepening homoerotic friendship with Mark, a gentle Jewish refugee whom his gang has ostracized as a sissy and a coward. Based on the novel _The Custard Boys_, by John Rae. Reminiscent of _Lord of the Flies_ in depicting adolescent cruelty growing unchecked to tragic extremes.