Whip It is the perfect anti-chick flick. Its a coming of age film about teenage girls in small town southern USA: Ellen Page’s mum wants her to enter beauty pageants, yet she secretly gets involved in the violent sport of roller derby.

It’s a simple, predictable story but its great fun. It’s angsty, rebellious, alternative, and its romance isn’t the be all and end all. It offers a different perspective to the usual smultsy rom-coms teenage girls are fed, providing an (anti?)-hero they can identify with and feel for.

Drew Barrymore shows promise with her directorial debut, injecting humour into proceedings and creating a captivating and unusual ‘be yourself’ story.