As with its inspired use of setting, the film also multi-tasks with its supporting characters. French exchange student, Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk), is at once a zeitgeist-effusing, new-wave dynamo, a personification of artifice, a villain, a prima donna actor, and a mirror for Proudfoot’s puritan family (though, Didier’s is a cult of cool). However, it’s with his function as Hollywood archetype that the film slightly falters. He and his entourage (almost Entourage) eventually embody the trappings of success (i.e. candy binging, cola purging, and bouncer-guarded partying), and the heavy handed satirical device weakens and slows momentum.

Meta drama can be dangerous – ask Hamlet – and can alienate the viewer. Thankfully, aside from the brief interlude, Jennings mostly restrains it: though Son of Rambow is a film about filmmaking, it perpetually tempers technical aspects with whimsical solutions.

Despite the inventiveness and resourcefulness of the filmmakers, the success of the film rests largely on the performances of its two leads and Milner and Poulter - both in their big-screen debuts - are excellent. The latter straddles a fine line between pathos and earnestness while the former seamlessly shifts between roguishness and sensitivity. Their comedic chemistry, along with Jennings et al’s visual acumen and inventiveness have created a gem of originality, subtlety, and heart. –S.T.