American indie movie regular Greta Gerwig has played the kooky best friend (Damsels in Distress) and the kooky girlfriend (Arthur), now she takes centre stage in Frances Ha as a New Yorker who is, you guessed it, somewhat kooky.

Flitting from flatshare to flatshare, the newly single Frances seems carefree and fun-loving but clearly hankers after something more whether it be advancing her work as a dancer or her friendship with Sophie (Mickey Sumner, daughter of Sting).

Frances Ha
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Both developments seem increasingly unlikely in this black and white comedy written and directed by Gerwig's boyfriend Noah Baumbach, who first directed her in Greenberg.

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It's a self-consciously hip but funny character portrait with a dash of surrealism, that’s all the better for focusing on female friendships rather than romance.

24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards - Red Carpet
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Whether dancing (badly) in the street or causing awkward silences at dinner parties, Gerwig is brilliant and frustrating in equal measure. Probably just how she'd like it.

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Hannah Swerling
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Hannah Swerling is ELLE's Content Director. She is a shameless TV addict and serial T-shirt buyer, never leaves the house without her headphones and loves Beyoncé more than you.