
Starter for 10
Set against the backdrop of 1985 Bristol University and Margaret Thatcher's Britain, Tom Vaughan's adaptation of David Nicholls' novel captures the chaotic insecurity of class mobility and student intellectualism with warmth and acidic humor. The film thrives on its sharp period texture, bustling collegiate energy, and a soundtrack bursting with New Wave classics. While James McAvoy anchors the central journey, Alice Eve delivers a delightfully calibrated performance as Alice Harbinson, the glamorous quiz teammate who resists becoming a two-dimensional object of desire. She layers what could have been a superficial trophy role with genuine academic ambition, vulnerability, and ironic self-awareness, solidifying her early cinematic reputation.













