Wild Rose opens with the titular Rose (Jessie Buckley) being released from prison and making her way back to Glasgow where her mother Marion (Julie Walters) has been looking after her two young children for the last year. Rose is a country singer who dreams of making it to Nashville one day whilst her mother prays she will accept the responsibility of motherhood.

Tom Harper’s film written by Nicole Taylor is an absolute revelation. Spearheaded by a sensational performance from Jessie Buckley (also excellent in last years Beast) it avoids cliche and really focuses in on its central characters challenges.

When we meet Rose she is a talented and driven woman, but she is also conflicted about being a mother. It’s telling that when she is released from prison that the first person she goes to see is a boyfriend and not her children. Through the course of the film we see her realise what her priorities are and learn how to manage them.

Buckley is ably supported by two other fantastic performances. Julie Walters, as perhaps expected from someone of her calibre is superb as the mother who struggles to balance the need to instil responsibility into her daughter whilst not robbing her of her dreams. Whilst Sophie Okonedo plays the woman who employs Rose as a cleaner and encourages her to seek her dream when she sees the spark within her.

Importantly for a film about a singer, the music is exceptional and Buckley has a beautiful singing voice. The original song written for the film also has a belting chorus that will stay with you as you leave the cinema.

Highly recommended and shows that a fictional story about a singer can be infinitely better than some of the recent biopics released.