In some unspecified town that’s not London, 39-year-old barrister Olivia (Lucy Punch) and twentysomething aspiring artist Alex (Faye Marsay) are a chalk-and-cheese lesbian couple who, despite an age gap and very different attitudes towards work, are madly in love. But Olivia’s decision to get herself artificially inseminated puts a strain on their delicately balanced domestic harmony. In a drunken moment, Alex shags John (David Tennant), the self-styled “alpha male” next door – and also gets herself knocked up.
This unlikely but comedy friendly premise, a first feature for writer-director Daisy Aitkens, proceeds in predictable, middle-class British comedy fashion, a bit more savvy and salty than something made for mainstream TV, but not quite as rich in budget and stars as a Working Title/Richard Curtis-style film. It’s amiable, saucy but non-threatening stuff for the most part, with some well-observed skits centred around pregnancy and the supposed cluelessness of heterosexual men, until the script throws a sudden, quite unexpected, tragic curveball. The move towards a darker, more emotionally complex register is admirably ambitious, but Aitkens doesn’t quite pull off the transition. Viewers will sense that the ineffable forces of genre expectation are compelling the story towards a happier conclusion, but it never quite recovers from the gloom of that shock swerve.
Nevertheless, the leads comprise an attractive, sympathetic trio who spark off one another plausibly and form a strong, comic equilateral triangle. And what a treat to see Punch, so often the scene-stealer in a string of supporting roles, get to be the star for a change, in a part that emphasises her gawky, goofy persona. Cooler, more sultry Marsay pairs with her well, and elsewhere a well-curated selection of redoubtable British actors chip in turns, including the great Sally Phillips as a new agey Australian birthing guru, as well as Gemma Jones and David Warner as Olivia’s square but supportive parents.
