Submarine

Submarine, adapted from a novel by Joe Dunthorne, is the debut as director of The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade. It is a confident debut - coming across as almost a British Juno (without the pregnancy), or in other words a cool, indy teen comedy. Ayoade directs with an assured hand, full of nice little flourishes without ever being two showy. The script is smart and funny, without ever being quite as self-consciously (and artificially) cool as Juno. And the soundtrack is enhanced by som great original songs by Arctic Monkey's Alex Turner.

The story follows Oliver (debutant Craig Roberts), who is trying to handle his first relationship with Jordana (Yasmin Paige) whilst simultaneously trying to stop his parents (Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor) splitting up after his mum's old flame, now a self-help guru (Paddy Considine bravely sporting one of the worst mullets you're ever likely to see), has moved in down the street. The adults are brilliant in their roles, but the film stands or falls on the younger performances and both Roberts and Paige absolutely nail it. They are slightly let down by a few of the other younger members of the cast who at times lapse into incomprehensibility, but that's not a major factor.

Overall - 8.5/10 An amazingly assured debut, with great performances by the young leads. Fresh, funny and moving. Well worth seeing.