Review: Our Ladies, world premiere at London Film Festival

Receiving its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival this weekend, Michael Caton-Jones’s adaptation of Alan Warner’s cult 1998 novel The Sopranos has gone from being a contemporary coming-of-age film to a period piece in the 20 years he’s spent trying to get it made.
The production, which stars a largely unknown cast of young actresses, was filmed on location in Edinburgh and Fort William last year. Picture: ContributedThe production, which stars a largely unknown cast of young actresses, was filmed on location in Edinburgh and Fort William last year. Picture: Contributed
The production, which stars a largely unknown cast of young actresses, was filmed on location in Edinburgh and Fort William last year. Picture: Contributed

Our Ladies, BFI London Film Festival3 stars ***

But having literally put the finishing touches to it last Wednesday, its freshly minted arrival feels oddly appropriate.Save for the absence of mobile phones and the prominence of CDs in this 1990s-set tale of six Catholic choir girls from Fort William who use a singing competition in Edinburgh as an excuse to go on a vodka-fuelled odyssey, the film keeps period nostalgia mostly in check in order to focus on the always-relevant dilemmas of its hormonally charged protagonists.It helps that Caton-Jones’s facility with young actors has resulted in a vibrant cast of newcomers in the lead roles.

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