Chicken

The reason to watch this tiny-budget English coming-of-age drama is beautiful acting from newcomer Scott Chambers as Richard, a sunny-hearted 15-year-old. Richard has learning difficulties, but the clever script and Chambers’s performance never make this his defining quality. Richard is sparky, hilarious and a savvy judge of people. He lives in a dirty old caravan with his violent older brother in the corner of a farm in Essex, whose new owner wants them off the land.

Richard is lonely and some of the best scenes involve him nattering away to his best friend and pet, a moody chicken called Fiona. Things take a grim turn in the second half, which doesn’t break any new ground in the social-realist stakes. But this is a confident debut from director Joe Stephenson with a gorgeous central performance.