THE FESTIVAL

CERT 15, 98 MINUTES, IN CINEMAS 14 AUGUST

THE PLOT After Nick (Thomas) is dumped by his girlfriend Caitlin (Tointon) moments before his graduation, he retires under his duvet and refuses to budge. Best mate Shane (Animashaun) has the perfect remedy: three days of hedonism at an epic music festival. Nick thinks that’s a terrible idea, but he gets dragged along into the mud and the mayhem – and, of course, Caitlin turns out to be there. En route, the lads meet the eccentric Amy (O’doherty), while at the festival they collide with an array of characters, including Shane’s mother’s over-emotional boyfriend Robin (Clement), headlining act Hammerhead (Noel Fielding), the Mdma-fuelled Smurf Girl (Emma Rigby) and an irritable tattooist (Nick Frost).

WHAT’S RIGHT/WRONG WITH IT? No critic screenings in advance of heat’s publication date, but in this case we’re not discouraged – the same was true of both Inbetweeners films, and they turned out pretty splendidly.

The Festival comes from the aforementioned show’s creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, who direct and executive produce, respectively. The script comes from Siblings writers Keith Akushie and Joe Parham. We remain optimistic.

VERDICT The fish-out-of-water premise is hardly original, but with this creative pedigree, we’re expecting some decent laughs, plus a few sweet lessons about being yourself and friendship.