Kicks is a coming of age tale about two teenage girls who bond over their love for a local football player before their crush escalates to dangerous obsession. Set in Liverpool the film tackles the issues of celebrity (particularly the cult that surrounds it), loyalty and a desire to break away from what you already have.

A good reference point for the film is My Summer of Love (even if Kicks rarely hits the heights of Pawlikowski’s underrated gem) in the way the bond between two girls becomes twisted and cancerous. The film is far more successful in the early going when their collective object of desire is kept at a distance. Their relationship with each other and their strained family lives are handled well yet by the end the film descends into an unconvincing kidnap plot that slowly unravels all the good work done in the opening hour. It is a real shame as the acting is solid, the dreamy cinematography is excellent and it captures an interesting bittersweet side of Liverpool rarely seen in films.