Running time: 98 mins . . .

LONG after Lars Von Trier and Tomas Vinterberg abandoned their Dogme manifesto . . . which Vinterberg insisted was always a bit of a joke . . . Britain gets its first Dogme movie. That's not to say it isn't relevant. What with crime movies and the do-it-by-numbers romance comedy wave, it's no harm to reconnect with the raw realism that once gave relevance to the industry. Jan Dunn applies the doctrine of natural sound and no artificial lighting to a Ken Loach-like working-class slice of dysfunctional family life, with the incidents told from three viewpoints. First we empathise with Pauline McLynn as a supermarket checkout granny trying to deal with a morose husband (Paul McGann) and their rebellious teenage daughter Kelly (Tamzin Dunstone) who refers to her baby as "that brat" and expects everyone to look after it for her. Then we get the husband's view, a carpet fitter who goes out with prostitutes and pews out racist hate when Kelly makes friends with a Czech refugee Tasha (Chloe Sirene).

The third version is Tasha's story, and with it we discover what's really going on. McLynn is compelling as the harassed mom.

"I just want to do something with myself, " she tells her husband.

"I'm in my bloody prime." "Shut up, granny, " he sneers. There are awkward moments and inconsistencies but the intimacy achieved brings out truths that would have been missed by a conventional production.