Balance, Not Symmetry review – Biffy Clyro art-school drama topples into cliche

There are moments you may have to bite your lip very hard to stifle harrumphs of exasperation watching this drifty on-the-the-fly Glaswegian indie drama about a young woman grieving for her dad and struggling to finish her art-school graduation show. Written by director Jamie Adams in collaboration with Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil – whose band provides the soundtrack – the whole thing has the tentative, incomplete feel of an improv actors’ project.

BlacKkKlansman’s Laura Harrier gives a blank performance as Caitlin, an American-Scot who grew up in New York but is studying art in Glasgow. The film begins with her dad’s funeral, after which Caitlin hastily heads back to college where she shares a flat with her fun-loving best friend Hannah (luminous Bria Vinaite from The Florida Project). In the studio, Caitlin is trying to find her voice as an artist, so naturally there are plenty of scenes in which she stares frowningly at a blank canvas. Worse are the deep conversations about art that may make you feel like you’re trapped in the corner of a party at 2am by a guy with merlot-stained teeth: “I don’t want it to look like art. I want you to walk past it and feel something raw.”

Adams and Neil have spoken to the Guardian about losing their mothers in their 20s and channelling that loss into the film, though you may wonder why they projected their shared experience on to a female character. Still, there are some memorable scenes here – one as a Turner-winning artist arrives to examine the students’ show; the ferocity of her gaze is electric. And Vinaite is such a natural and authentic screen presence. She deserves a lead role soon.

• Balance, Not Symmetry is released in the UK on 2 August.