Hearts Beat Loud

Frank (Nick Offerman – Parks and Recreation, 22 Jump Street) has been nursing dreams of a becoming famous since he was in a band with his late wife. He regularly persuades his teenage daughter, Sam, to ‘jam’ with him, and has been trying to start a band with her since she was 12.

In the summer before she leaves for UCLA to study medicine, he records one of their jam sessions and uploads it to Spotify without her knowledge. Frank is bowled over when it becomes big online and he hears it being played in a local coffee shop. He tells Sam, and urges her to defer for a year to start a band with him and see what happens. Sam is torn between staying with her dad and fulfilling his dream, or moving on to her own…

This is a moving yet humorous film about family ties and growing up, and rightly brought home a number of film festival awards. Nick Offerman gives a fantastic performance, and shows that he can handle drama as deftly as he can handle comedy; and Toni Collette (Hereditary) is excellent as ever as the landlady of his failing vinyl store.

Natalie Tyldesley-Marshall