LISA RILEY

to a minimum and let the extraordinary visuals, the rich special effects and the beautifully choreographed space manoeuvres do his talking for him.

But perhaps those are minor complaints: Gravity is a cinematic tour de force and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

PERFECT 10 Curzon Home Cinema Now streaming

THIS debut feature from young Edinburgh-born director Eva Riley follows on from her short

Patriot, selected for the Short Film Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and announces the arrival on the scene of a major new talent in the mould of a Lynne Ramsay or an Andrea Arnold.

Set in Brighton, where Riley now lives, Perfect 10 follows the chaotic home and emotional life of 14-year-old Leigh (newcomer Frankie Box), an aspiring gymnast neglected by her hopeless father Rob (William Ash) and grieving for her dead mother.

Gymnastics coach Gemma (Sharlene Whyte) is encouraging and tries her best to be nurturing but Leigh’s inability to come up with competition money and the taunts of her team-mates that she is a “charity case” have her on the verge of quitting the sport.

Enter Joe (Alfie Deegan), an older half-brother Leigh never knew she had. Joe has been kicked out by his mother and sent to live with his stranger father, though his attempts at bonding are met with aggression.

Leigh is more open, though, and gradually she and Joe form a sibling relationship of sorts.

At his side and (vaguely) under his protection, she’s catapulted into a nether-world of petty crime and magic hour scooter races in Brighton’s sea-fringed industrial hinterland.

Perfect 10 isn’t startlingly original – see Andrea Arnold’s films Wasp and Fish Tank for earlier examples of similar coming-of-age stories – and there’s also a flavour of Guy Myhill’s The Goob, which is set in the badlands of rural Norfolk.

But Riley’s light and nimble touch belies her youth, she coaxes splendid performances out of her cast of non-actors – Frankie Box, in particular, is amazing – and her script sings with authenticity.

Since returning to her role as Mandy Dingle in ITV’s Emmerdale, there has been no shortage of gripping storylines for Lisa Riley to explore.

The 44-year-old returned to the role last year and also this year has celebrated three decades of being in showbiz. She talks about what’s in store for her as life has become infinitely more complicated for her character since her ex-Paul arrived on the scene.

HOW DOES MANDY FEEL ABOUT PAUL?

“I think the week we’re up to, she’s scared; she’s scared of being hurt again, and she’s scared of history repeating itself. But mainly she’s so suffocated with her love for Vinnie (her teenage son played by Bradley Johnson), and feels she’s losing him, and as you know, with the miscarriage story and the infertility, it’s like he’s come back.

“She does love him, she’s so scared that if she does even go for it a little bit, she will be hurt again, and she’s petrified of that. So, I think she plays her cards close to her chest”.

IS PAUL MANDY’S ACHILLES HEEL?

“Yeah, I think a lot of people go through that. It’s the bad boy, he’s constantly scratching her on her right shoulder. He’s there, and she knows she shouldn’t”. very passionate relationship, and it’s the passion that comes through with them, and that comes first. It’s one of those, oh well it’s just a mistake, move on and then true to Mandy’s style, she just keeps making mistakes”.

MANDY IS SO UNLUCKY IN LOVE, IS IT PART OF HER DNA?

“I think that naturally is her DNA, it’s her vulnerability. She will forever be... she’s full of bravado, she’s full of camp and fun, but where love is concerned, she is a bit of a doormat.

“Men walk all over her. She gives too much too quickly, but that goes with her bravado and her vulnerability. She just wants to be loved, and I think when people in life are like that, that’s when they get stung and that’s when they get burnt, and that’s what we’re portraying in this storyline.

“What is going to be interesting is the fact that when we do move forward, when Mandy doesn’t get her own way, Mandy can be quite mean, if she doesn’t get her own way. That’s a real bullet in one of the episodes, of the lengths of how mean she can be. But, again, it is coming from a really good place”.