Electrick Children

This indie drama, the feature debut of writer/director Rebecca Thomas, is an original take on the fish-out-of-water scenario. It begins in a loving but strict Mormon community in Utah, where naive 15-year-old Rachel (a magnetic Julia Garner) is accused of incest with her brother (Liam Aiken) when she becomes pregnant after listening to a cover of Blondie's Hanging on the Telephone on a forbidden tape recorder. Convinced she has experienced an immaculate conception, she drives to Las Vegas in the hope of tracking down the male singer of the song, whom she believes is responsible for her pregnancy. She is picked up outside a rock club by the sympathetic, middle-class Rory Culkin and his grungy entourage, and she and her brother soon experience drugs, drink and skateboarding for the first time. Meanwhile, Culkin achieves a new spirituality. Rachel's quest hinges on a series of unlikely coincidences but these chime with the film's ethereal, magical-realist quality - in particular, an early, seemingly throwaway narrative strand that becomes pivotal. With its witty script, breezy, unforced performances and frequent surprises Electrick Children announces a promising American talent.