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HOW TO BUILD A GIRL (15) ★★★★ ★

IN 1990s Wolverhampton, teenage misfit Johanna Morrigan (Beanie Feldstein, pictured) runs a gauntlet of insecurities after she recites a poem on live TV about life on a working-class housing estate with her dogbreeding father Pat (Paddy Considine), exhausted mother Angie (Sarah Solemani) and four siblings.

Her brother Krissi (Laurie Kynaston) encourages her to apply for a writing job with London-based music magazine D&ME. Sneering “posh boy” Tony (Frank Dillane) and his chums hire Johanna to pen a review of a Manic Street Preachers gig in Birmingham and gradually mould her into their bile-spewing mascot: Dolly Wilde.

“It’s just like Pygmalion but with a real pig,” cruelly observe the magazine’s editors as Johanna abandons her moral compass and family loyalties in pursuit of fame, culminating in a shocking betrayal of trust following a tender interview with melancholic balladeer John Kite (Alfie Allen).

Adapted by Caitlin Moran from her semiautobiographical novel, How To Build A Girl is a spiky coming-of-age story that gallops down a haphazard path towards one young woman’s personal and sexual awakening.

Feldstein continues to mine a rich vein of comedic form after her star-confirming turn in Booksmart. She delivers another powerhouse performance that breathlessly captures the beautifully flawed facets of a heroine in search of her identity.

Her wayward Midlands accent is a mild distraction during heartfelt family scenes, particularly during Johanna’s bruising fall from grace. However, awkwardly strangled vowels can’t tarnish director Coky Giedroyc’s assured work capturing the moodiness of the era.

■ Exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

THE KISSING BOOTH 2 (12) ★★★★ ★

IN 2018, Netflix released the gooey teen romance The Kissing Booth based on the novel penned by Beth Reekles.

Two years later, Vince Marcello returns to the director’s chair for a sequel based on Reekles’ second book, which he has adapted for the screen with Jay Arnold.

In the first film, high school student Elle Evans ( Joey King, pictured) fell madly in love with reformed bad boy Noah Flynn ( Jacob Elordi) and declared her love before he left for Harvard.

In the follow-up, Elle returns to school for her senior year and hopes to maintain a long-distance relationship with Noah.

The thorny issue of trust arises when Noah grows close to pretty college student Chloe (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) and Elle bonds with new classmate Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez).

As hormones rage, Elle must decide to whom her heart belongs as she pursues a place at her dream college with dutiful best friend Lee ( Joel Courtney). ■ Exclusively on Netflix.