Smiley Face

After proving his worth as a 'serious' filmmaker in 2004 with the hugely impressive Mysterious Skin, Gregg Araki's latest comes as something of a surprise. Returning to the trashy youth aesthetics of his apocalyptic teen film days, Smiley Face is an unashamedly enjoyable stoner comedy featuring Anna Faris in a masterful comic performance.

Faris is Jane, an out-of-work actress who fills her days getting high and little else. After erroneously eating an entire batch of pot-filled cupcakes, Jane ventures out into the world on a riotous drug fuelled odyssey that can only end in disaster.

Actual gay content may be lacking, but Araki has already done more than enough to prove his worth as one of the leading contemporary queer filmmakers, and here his oddball wit and wonderfully garish eye for composition have never been sharper.

Michael Blyth