Tamara Drewe

Tamara Drewe (2010) is Stephen Frears' English comedy of manners, free to watch online on iFILM. Once the awkward girl with a big nose, journalist Tamara returns to her Dorset village transformed, and the whole sleepy parish suddenly can't stop staring.

The hamlet of Ewedown is full of writers behaving badly: a smug bestselling crime novelist cheats on the wife who quietly runs his retreat, while Tamara, played by Gemma Arterton, walks back in and rearranges every relationship at once. A local farmhand pines for her, a vain rock drummer (Dominic Cooper) chases her, and two bored teenagers spread a rumour that wrecks real lives. Frears adapted Posy Simmonds' graphic novel, itself a loose riff on Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd.

It's a sharp, charming swipe at country idylls and literary egos, with no sentimental gloss and a clear eye for grown-ups acting dumber than the kids. Stream Tamara Drewe (2010) online on iFILM.