Benny & Jolene

Nowhere near as irritating as the following description suggests, this ultra-low-budget indie teen movie is a cautionary tale of sacrifice and compromise. The titular Benny and Jolene are young folk musicians touted for mainstream crossover success, having inadvertently acquired a pushy manager, spaced-out roadie and gormless PR guru. With pressure applied to them from all directions, the duo spend 80 minutes struggling to retain their integrity, a revolving cast of grotesques showing up to bellow things like “grow up and get your tits out!”

Despite its pedestrian premise, the film's gentle disillusionment feels particularly insightful, writer/director Jamie Adams steering clear of tired music-biz clichés in favour of sharp characterisation. As the will they/won’t they leads, Charlotte Ritchie and Craig Roberts have charm to burn and a nice line in improvised banter. The product of theirs and Adams’ labours may be somewhat slight, but it’s also very lovely indeed. [Lewis Porteous]