Film Review: God Help The Girl (15) (U.K. 2014) (Director: Stuart Murdoch), Filmhouse, Screen Two, Edinburgh, Saturday 23.08.2014, 20:40

I firstly was not drawn to this film and was in ways put off  by the fact that it is directed by the chief member of the twee indie Scottish group Belle & Sebastian. I then noticed that two of the lead characters are played by Hannah Murray and Emily Browning and due to this had far greater intrigue. After having got my ticket, I also found out that Josie Long has a cameo playing the coach of a local football team, brucie-bonus.

This Glasgow set, geek-indie musical is a surprising, inventive, surreal, touching, genuinely funny, beautiful, melancholic and joyous treat. I did initially think some of the script to be overly simplistic, though then I realised that this helped it to work as an urban fairytale. The three leads, Emily, Hannah & Olly Alexander all have a suitably gentle and dreamy quality, which fits perfectly with the film's tableau of a not-quite-real modern day Weegieland. The film is utterly charming and an absolute gem.

Rating: 10/10.