★★★★☆

‘Maybe if dad hadn’t just been verbally abusive, it would have been a bestseller,’ grumbles Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Beth as she reflects on her underperforming memoir. This cleverly conceived and sharply scripted comedy from Nicole Holofcener reteams the writer-director and her Enough Said star for a tale of professional anxiety and problematic politeness.

The film plunges academic and writer Beth into crisis as she follows said memoir with her first novel, which elicits a withering response from her agent Sylvia (LaTanya Richardson Jackson). Worse is to come when she overhears her adored therapist husband Don (Tobias Menzies) telling a friend that he’s not a fan either, despite repeated assurances otherwise. Don has troubles of his own as he struggles with forgetfulness and some bad-tempered patients, while Beth receives support from her sister Sarah (Michaela Watkins) and offers encouragement to her aspiring playwright son, Eliot (Owen Teague).

Holofcener marries stimulating subject matter with the lightest of touches. The film contemplates just how honest you should be with your partner or child, and throws in some incidental humour and broader moments of farce; scenes where a despondent Don tangles with his discontented patients (including David Cross and Amber Tamblyn’s irate couple) are particularly funny.

Louis-Dreyfus and Watkins make for a delightful double-act playing very plausible siblings. And, once again, Holofcener and her leading lady work wonders together, with Louis-Dreyfus’ ability to wring every drop of comedy and emotion from a line always something to relish.

You Hurt My Feelings screens at Picturehouse Central as part of Sundance Film Festival London, Sunday 9 July, 6pm and 6.15pm; streaming on Prime Video from Tuesday 8 August.