Its not about the drinking

The business of the drinking is not the real point of the film - it is actually about life and relationships - with their classes, their families, each other.

Languid at first but compelling

Inevitably there are scenes and connections from the book which are missing, the story has been compressed to fit into a 2hr film, but it is visually and feels very like my imagination when I read the book. Since I greatly enjoyed the book this is high praise. Ultimately it comes down to a courtroom drama, which is well told and the jumping between time frames in the novel is handled well.

The visuals are excellent and Daisy Edgar-Jones is very good as Kya (although perhaps a bit old for the teenage scenes). Jojo Regina who plays 7yo Kya is also very good.

I can't comment as to whether it works well if you haven't read the book, but if you have you wont be disappointed.

A Charming Tale

Moments of slight comedy, although the humour is more in the situation. The unlikely relationship between Alana (25 or 28) and Gary (15) becomes believable through Cooper Hoffman's portrail of Gary as 15 going on 30.