I’ll admit — I didn’t have high expectations going into Suze. But within the first five minutes, I found myself chuckling to myself.

Within another 10, I was full-out belly laughing. And by the mid-point, I was fully endeared to these characters and invested in their journeys.

Suze is the type of quirky, offbeat and congenial film that’s impossible to hate. It’s a story of a divorced mother who is left without purpose when her only child heads to university. Suze desperately wants her daughter Brooke’s approval, and the latter feels suffocated. She doesn’t even tell her Mom she’s chosen to go to school far away from home until the last-minute. This could be a pretty cliche ride, but Suze manages to subvert expectations — Chief among the reasons is its young co-lead Charlie Gillespie.

A Dieppe, New Brunswick product, Gillespie is a hometown boy I can root for. I’m an N.B.-born reviewer, and Gillespie’s early career has shown immense promise. From a break-out in lauded but ill-fated Netflix show Julie and the Phantoms to a great supporting role in Amazon Prime Video spooky hit Totally Killer, his raw talent can’t be ignored.

The charismatic actor brings all his natural charm here as Gage, the aloof boyfriend of our title character’s teenage daughter. Gage is going nowhere — with absentee parents and no high school degree — and Suze begs her daughter Brooke daily to leave him.

But when Brooke heads to school, she both breaks up with Gage and stops taking her mother’s calls. Suze finds herself alone in a big house. Her ex-husband has a new wife, her daughter has a life in Montreal without her, and she is suddenly left caring for Gabe after an accident.

Despite Suze’s best efforts, she finds herself identifying more and more with Gage as the two develop a close bond.

This movie is funny — Like really, really funny. The performances are absolutely perfect as well. Gillespie gives a truly wonderful turn, and he’s joined by the consistently-engaging Michaela Watkins. She provides a grounded atmosphere and the two actors make a great pairing.

Watkins and Gillespie are clearly having a lot of fun here, but it was also a joy to see Canadian sweetheart Aaron Ashmore play against type as Gage’s neglectful, gruff father.

Writer-director team Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart have made a great little flick that I hope gets the notice it deserves.

4/5 Stars