Set in contemporary west London, this tale of gang rivalry was threatened with a cinema distribution ban after real-life gangs turned up at screenings keen to watch, but began laying into one another outside cinemas – all of which should go some way towards convincing you of this film's authenticity.

Noel Clarke (otherwise known as Mickey Smith in Doctor Who) writes, directs and stars in Adulthood, which comes in fairly quick succession to his previous effort Kidulthood. It doesn't shy away from the in-your-face portrayal of violent youth in its predecessor, and is all the better for that.

As a sequel, it also shares the central character of Sam (Clarke), who was jailed for stabbing a boy at the end of Kidulthood, and here emerges six years later back into the same community.

Inevitably Sam has not been forgotten during his time inside, and it is all the wrong people who remember him for all the wrong reasons. His victim's best friend has grown more powerful in the ranks of the local gang and drug culture and, as a result, Sam's survival hangs in the balance.

Clarke's intelligence and insight shines through in the fact that this is not some Guy Ritchie-style sexed-up violence, but rather a grittier reality which, while not shying away from sex or menace, doesn't celebrate it with quite so much grunting salaciousness.

There have been criticisms that some of the white characters veer on the side of oversimplification, but Adulthood holds its ground as an inside view of inner city gang life told with a mature head and heart.

PRICELESS (12) £19.99

Director: Pierre Salvadori

Running time: 104 minutes

***

Unless the little girl lost of French charmer Amelie all those years ago is your cup of tea, Audrey Tautou has never been sexier than in this cute romp about class, deception and riches. Some may find her modus operandi here cold and as a result her performance too, but Tautou is far more intriguing here than she has been in other mainstream successes, such as The Da Vinci Code.

Okay, so it doesn't have anything near the panache and passion of such classics as Breakfast At Tiffany's or To Catch A Thief, but the Riviera-set caper does have its own charms.

Tautou is a gold digger, who jumps too quickly from her sugar daddy's arms into those of the next new monied man to enter her line of vision. Unfortunately, she gets the wrong man and Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is merely the barman. Not to be outdone, Jean follows Irene to the Côte d'Azur, and she takes him under her wing and teaches him how to become a gigolo so that the pair can go around fleecing the really rich.

It's hard to say which character is the least likeable in this scenario, and as much as Tautou's cold cheek is watchable, it is Elmaleh's slapstick and gormless comic touch which raises this above average.

Inevitably the jealousy plays out as the gigolo's time spent with a rich older woman loses its fun, but the hard edge to this comedy is never lost.

Tautou may be charming, but there is also an untapped grit in this performance which suggests her best is yet to come.