Oh Lord, it’s been a really long time since I’ve cried in front of a crowd.

When you spend most of 18 months away from your local multiplex, you forget the intricacies of trying to hide your sniffles from other audience members.

But when it came to Nowhere Special, there was no hiding it – this family drama left me an emotional wreck, in a good way.

This Venice Film Festival nominee for best film is a slow, enveloping wave of sentiment that will hit you hard. The film follows John, a 35-year-old man who finds himself with only a few months to live.

He is tasked with picking a family to adopt his three-year-old son Michael, who will have no one when John passes. His mother left when he was young, and precocious Michael needs someone who will truly take care of him.

But the harder John tries to hide the truth about what’s going on, the more young Michael inadvertently learns. Writer-director Uberto Pasolini creates one of the most resonant films I’ve seen in five years.

An Oscar nominee for The Full Monty, this is Pasolini’s most poignant film in years. Happy Valley star James Norton gives an unforgettable performance here, and mark my words, you will fall in love with little Daniel Lamont within minutes.

It’s a beautiful triumph of a film that will hit you in the moments you least expect it.

5/5 Stars