Ali & Ava

In spite of their different backgrounds and an age gap, single mother Ava (Claire Rushbrook) and married man Ali (Adeel Akhtar) hit it off straight away. They are both lonely, even though they have no shortage of people in their lives. Ava’s house is always full of children and grandchildren coming and going; Ali lives with his British-Pakistani family, but hasn’t told them yet that his marriage now exists in name only. In reality, he and his wife have been estranged for ages.

The formerly industrial city of Bradford is not an obvious choice of backdrop for a romantic drama, but director Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant, Dark River) is supremely able to find beauty in grey skies, deserted factory buildings and tired terraced housing. In the cautiously optimistic, partly improvised Ali & Ava, Barnard gives a modern twist to classic kitchen-sink realism, with strong acting and a rich soundtrack ranging from The Specials and Bob Dylan to recent club and pop hits.