Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

(Image credit: Photo coutesy of Fox Searchlight)

Thomas Mann plays moody Greg, who makes spoof films with his friend Earl (RJ Cyler) and forms a bumpy bond with Olivia Cooke’s leukaemia-stricken Rachel

Thomas Mann plays moody Greg, who makes spoof films with his friend Earl (RJ Cyler) and forms a bumpy bond with Olivia Cooke’s leukaemia-stricken Rachel.

A good deal spikier than other teen tearjerkers, such as The Fault in Our Stars and If I Stay, this offbeat comedy drama is smart, stylish and irrepressibly quirky.

Part of the film's charm derives from Mann and Cyler’s kooky pastiches of art-house movies with deliberately cringe-worthy titles such as A Sockwork Orange.

But there's real emotion here, too, and the film proves surprisingly tender and touching.