Real Women Have Curves

Patricia Cardoso's fresh, funky feature wouldn't be half as good without newcomer America Ferrera, the rebellious teenager at its centre.

Ana (Ferrera) is bright and wants to attend university, but her embittered mother has no intention of letting her younger daughter escape the grinding sweatshop routine to which immigrant life has consigned the Mexican-American family's other females.

Ana, unsurprisingly, doesn't see why a plump cleverclogs should sew size six dresses she could neither afford nor fit into, and her defiance powers the film towards a rousingly affirmative conclusion. Great fun.