As the kids in question emerge from the trust-funded Gabriels and Violas of West London, some might take this handsome YA romance as further evidence of creative-industry elitism. Chris Foggin’s first feature nevertheless retains two highly favourable elements. Will Poulter is typically no-nonsense as the Portobello Road set’s own Ben Braddock, drifting from his straight-edge lifepath under the influence of worldly Parisian Evelyn (Alma Jodorowsky).
Foggin’s fondly satirical eye, meanwhile, permits these characters their moment among the Notting Hill carnival crowds, while spotting how frivolous, lost and isolated they are elsewhere. (Money here affords mobility, not happiness.)
Despite the credible evocation of this milieu – including a sparky Cara Delevingne as the most prominent sofa-surfer – it needed a touch more narrative oomph to hasten it past its final-reel moping. Yet it remains a sincere, sweet-minded venture: one of those debuts in which characters and film-makers appear to be finding themselves before your very eyes.
