She Monkeys

She Monkeys gives you four genres for the price of one - a coming-of-age tale, a thriller, a sports movie and a western - all set in the hyper-controlled and rather sado-masochistic world of equestrian vaulting (horse gymnastics, for those of you not in the know).

There are echoes of Celine Sciamma's Water Lillies and Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures as the film's two teenage protagonists, Cassandra and Emma, form an obsessive bond tinged with rivalry, jealousy and sexual tension. New girl in town Emma is the inscrutable, serious one, ice-blonde Cassandra the more reckless of the pair, and it's the opposition of these two emotional poles that gives the film its thriller edge.

It's no surprise to learn that Aschan was once assistant director on Danish crime series, The Killing. Saturated in frosty hospital-greens, She Monkeys looks as you would expect a film from the chilly end of Europe to look. The sparse, compelling dialogue is distinctly Nordic, too. But She Monkeys also has more than a whiff of the western about it. People and horses square up against one another in geometric long shots while a Morricone-esque guitar score twangs in the background. At one point there's even a shot of tumbleweed blowing along a deserted road. But in this teenage frontier tale, the balance of power is tipped not by dawn shoot-outs, but by who's top dog on the horsey team. It's a smart and refreshing take on an old format.

A sub-plot about the sexual awakening of Emma's 10-year-old sister Sara - involving a leopard-print bikini, a hot male babysitter and one of the most inappropriate pre-teen dancing scenes since Little Miss Sunshine - ventures beyond the point where most filmmakers would dare to tread, but in a way that feels squirmishly innocent.

Like all adolescents, the three girls are fighting a losing battle with their hormones to master their bodies and desires. Anyone who's ever been a teenage girl will come away thanking their lucky star that they aren't anymore.