This intimate and beautifully observed film introduces us to two struggling souls. Shot and set in Bradford, it celebrates the city's diversity whilst acknowledging its racial tensions, with Ali and Ava coming together against this vibrant and volatile backdrop. He's a local landlord and former DJ from a Bengali family; she's a white classroom assistant, single mother to four, grandmother to five. He's played by Adeel Akhtar; her by Claire Rushbrook.

This is the latest feature from acclaimed writer-director Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant, Dark River) and, as ever, she comes at it from the left field. Her fourth film is a romcom slash social realist drama, boasting a refreshingly modern outlook and eccentric touches that can't fail to charm. Ali is a big, bouncing kid of a character, perpetually lost in the banging tunes he pipes through his headphones and always ready to help out or muck around with anyone.

Although masquerading to his family as a happily married man, Ali is separated from his wife Runa (lovely work from Ellora Torchia) who is still living in his house, an arrangement that pains him, with their lack of children another source of anguish. Ava's gentle demeanour and genial personality hide the heavy toll of a hard-knock life. As this loveable pair enter tentatively into a friendship and then romance, her sweet smiles will floor you.

The complications of starting a new relationship with decades' worth of baggage in tow are sensitively and invigoratingly explored in a moving yet often very funny film that is buoyed by gorgeous performances and an eclectic soundtrack. This middle-aged duo have retained their lust for life despite it all, and watching them share their passions and throw caution to the wind is wonderful.

Ali & Ava is in cinemas from Friday 4 March.