After Alan Warner published his brilliant and hilarious third novel The Sopranos in 1998, about a group of working-class convent schoolgirls on the rampage in Edinburgh, for years the big surprise has been that it hasn’t been turned into a film. Now, finally, here it is, an adaptation of The Sopranos (renamed, for obvious reasons) – and the thing is, it’s a few years too late. Post #MeToo, there are scenes here that are a bit off; in all honesty, though, they might have felt wrong as far back as the Rotherham child abuse scandal. Such as the moment when the girls on the back of the coach flash their bras and wave “shag me” signs to passing builders’ vans.
Still, plenty of Warner’s wonderfully un-PC gags stand the test of time. “Why are nuns ballbags?” asks one of the girls. “Low wages and no sex,” jokes her mate. What’s more, Rob Roy director Michael Caton-Jones has assembled a terrific, full-of-energy ensemble cast of unknown actors to play the girls of Our Lady of Succour’s choir.
It’s set in the mid-90s; Orla (Tallulah Greive) is the school’s miracle after recovering from leukaemia, supposedly at Lourdes. She’s up for losing her virginity on the choir’s day trip to Edinburgh from Fort William for a singing competition. Marli Siu plays Kylah, the cool-girl punk singer with the voice of an angel. Manda (Sally Messham) is a bully; Chell (Rona Morison) has been “loopy” since her dad died. Kay (Eve Austin) is the butter-wouldn’t-melt head girl. Abigail Lawrie gives the performance of the film as Finnoula, whose cleverness feels like a curse; she can see how her future is mapped out by class and poverty. “This town is a graveyard for us,” she says.
Like I say, there is a lot to like here – but there’s no escaping how dated some of the material is. I remember reading the book in the 00s, thinking how heroic the girls’ joyous boozing, puking and shagging was – a glorious two fingers up at those who wrote them off as the mindless underclass. Now I watch their encounters with dodgy older blokes thinking how vulnerable their real-life counterparts are. A wee tweak here and there might have fixed it.
• Our Ladies is released on 27 August in cinemas.
