Make Up

In her powerhouse debut, Claire Oakley brilliantly utilizes elements of mystery, horror and thriller cinema to tell a story that's anything but. It's a coming-of-age study of a girl awakening to her own wants, but Oakley's conviction in infusing it with an atmosphere of dread is utterly persuasive; and she complements her clever writing with a mature and sure-handed directorial style.

Typically awful British crap.

Can't quite decide what it wants to be: a social realist coming of age tale, a horror, suspense, erotic thriller. But despite itself, it does cohere and is often quite compelling, if a little overdone at times (the repeated use of red as a motif, for example).