This is the debut feature film of French film-maker Louise Courvoisier. It received its World Premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes Festival and had its UK release last week. It is a drama about cheese-making – specifically Comté cheese from eastern France. Except, of course, that is not what it is really about.

It tells the story of Totone (Clément Faveau), a carefree and somewhat wild 18-year-old boy who spends his days drinking and chasing girls with his best friends Jean-Yves and Francis. However, when his father, a heavy-drinking cheese-maker, is killed in a car accident, he suddenly finds himself sole carer and provider for his young sister Claire (Luna Garret). He gets a menial job in a nearby dairy farm, and almost immediately loses it after an altercation with a co-worker. Then he discovers the large prize money available for making award-winning Comté cheeses and sets his sights on scooping the top prize – after all, cheese-making runs in the family. However, unsurprisingly, making the cheese is not quite as easy as he had imagined.

Clément Faveau is excellent in the lead role, an extremely subtle, nuanced and under-stated performance and Maiwene Barthelemy, playing Marie-Lise, the young local dairy farmer who he falls in love with, is equally wonderful. This is social-realism in the style of the Dardenne Brothers: the story is gently teased out – shown not told – and the young protagonists, placed in an impossible position, are always likeable and their optimism is infectious.

I must add that the cheese-making scenes themselves are most informative and whilst watching the film will not teach you exactly how it is done, it will leave you with a reasonable understanding of the complexities involved.

Holy Cow is directed with a surprising lightness of touch for a first feature, and Louise Courvoisier is clearly a name to watch. It is unapologetically sentimental, but there are no easy answers. I whole-heartedly recommend this film. Don’t worry if you are not overly keen on subtitles – there is not that much dialogue anyway!