Charmingly low-key, the British coming-of-age drama "Albatross" offsets slack plotting with creative casting and sensitive performances.

The lack of subtlety makes the story's familiar beats only more obvious.

The performances are compelling (although Jones is underused) but the thin narrative is less instructive of the strange way female friendships operate than of the way stories get recycled.

Brown Findlay's feisty livewire gives the film the spark lacking in the routine plot.