Parents' Guide to Brian and Charles

This is a tender, beautifully rendered film about loneliness that's sure to warm the cockles of your heart. It's a real masterclass of balance, as director Jim Archer blends genres seamlessly. There are laugh-out-loud moments, but it's also very moving -- and, on top of that, it's a science-fiction tale. Though it's not one that struggles to suspend viewers' disbelief, as it sets the scene remarkably well in an authentic way, earning viewers' trust before turning everything on its head. And Earl deftly captures Brian's complexity while demonstrating point-perfect comedic timing.

On the downside, it's hard to understand why the filmmakers decided to present Brian and Charles as a mockumentary, as though a camera crew is following Brian around. For starters, it makes no sense why anyone would randomly go and film a man living alone in the middle of a remote Welsh village. Even worse, they lose that style somewhere halfway through. By the end, the film feels like a more conventional dramatic feature, almost as though the filmmakers decided halfway through to scrap the original idea and couldn't be bothered to go back and change it in the edit. But, really, this is a small complaint in a film that's otherwise sweet, funny, and original.