It’s 1996 and a group of Catholic school girls from the Highlands town of Fort William are heading to Edinburgh for a choir competition. They however are far more interested in the time they will have in the big city before the competition and the opportunity to drink and hook up with boys. 

Our Ladies is so brilliant at conveying the experiences of a group of teenage girls I was thoroughly surprised to see that aside from the fantastic young actresses playing our main characters there were few women in the key creative roles. Originally a novel called The Sopranos by Alan Warner it was subsequently turned into a stage play before being adapted into this amazing film. The screen play was co-written by Alan Sharp and the director of the film Michael Caton-Jones. 

All of our girls have a story and hopes for their day. Orla (Tallulah Grieve) is in remission from Leukaemia and is desperate to hook up with a boy before she dies. Kylah (Marli Siu) is a singer in a band and wants to visit a northern soul club. Finnoula (Abigail Lawrie) wants some time to herself to explore what she wants whilst her best friend Amanda (Sally Messham) just wants to have fun and does not understand why Finnoula needs her space. Whilst Chell (Rona Morrison) and Kay (Eve Austin) are both keen to escape the reputations that are used to bully them. All of these actresses give absolutely superb performances portraying a group of young women that love and care for each other whilst on a day of self discovery. 

The closest touchstone to describe the film and the joy that it made me feel is Rob Reiner’s 1986 film Stand By Me. Both follow a group of friends on a journey of self discovery that have plenty of incident along the way. It is funny, emotional and captures the excitement and promise of the moment in time when you become an adult. 

A must watch.