Download Our Ladies; movie review

 

OUR LADIES

Cert 15

106 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong sex references, nudity, sex

"I've never met a girl like you before," sang Edwyn Collins - and he could have had any of the wonderful lasses of Our Ladies in mind.

It may have taken 30 years to live up to his classics Scandal and Memphis Belle but Michael Caton-Jones has found the lustre of his youth with this intoxicating coming-of-age comedy-drama.

Set in 1996, "before social media and mobile phones change things forever," this is the type of movie which has me believing in cinema again.

But, watch out, if you fear the bawdy. These girls certainly don't hold back.

Our Ladies are teenage members of a Catholic school choir being taken to Edinburgh to take part in a prestigious competition.

This provides the chance for them to paint the town red or, more accurately, find some quickie sex.

Narrator of their story is Orla (Tallulah Greive) who has found a miracle cure for cancer on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

She remains fatalistic and is, consequently, determined to lose her virginity on the trip.

Orla is not alone in her desire for some rumpy-pumpy - sex and booze are high on the agenda of her pals, Finnoula (Abigail Lawrie), Rona Morison (Chell), Kylah (Marli Siu) and Manda (Sally Messham).

The writing of Caton-Jones's film is wonderfully pithy in pondering sexuality, pregnancy, class difference and the ebbs and flows of friendships of teenage girls.

Indeed, it is so good I was astonished that a woman was not part of the writing team.

All of the girls are different (Eve Austin is added to the mix as the mixed-up head girl), given almost equal camera time and the actors all stand up to the task.

Our Ladies may be lewd but it also has a very strong heart. Its vibrant young cast help make it one of the funniest films of 2021.

Reasons to watch: Raunchy and funny

Reasons to avoid: Some will find it too crude

Laughs: Seven

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? Michael Caton-Jones optioned Alan Warner's novel The Sopranos in 1998. It was announced in 2018 that production on a film adaptation had begun.

The final word. Michael Caton-Jones: "The reaction was absolutely beyond what I could have hoped for. I was just completely knocked out when I heard people getting all the things, all the little details I'd been working on for months and months." The Skinny

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