Forget Me Not

A frequent criticism of ultra-low-budget independent movies is that they try to do too much. ‘Forget Me Not’ may even be guilty of doing too little – but what it does attempt, it largely pulls off.

It’s essentially a British take on ‘Before Sunrise’: a two-hander romcom staged over 24 hours across the city of London, as Will (Tobias Menzies), a musician wrestling with a dark secret, rescues barmaid Eve (Genevieve O’Reilly) from a tricky customer and decides to pursue her through parties, art happenings and all-night raves.

It’s all frightfully twee and Richard Curtis-ish, as exemplified by the wannabe-hip locations and a series of awful, sub-James Blunt coffee table whinge-folk numbers. But it benefits from a brisk, insightful if talky script, some gorgeously crisp location shots and compelling lead performances. Ambitious it ain’t, but ‘Forget Me Not’ is a modest, memorable and rather moving slice of DIY cinema.