If you’re feeling a bit down about your life, watch this film.

The French are great at giving us a warm and gentle insight into the challenges of the marginalised. Where Hollywood might ramp up the saccharine or over egg the pudding, directors like Louis Julienne-Petit and Olivier Nakache (The Intouchables (2011), The Extraordinary (2019)) know how to walk the line between sympathy and patronisation.

Cathy Marie (Audrey Lamy) is a chef who can barely bottle her rage at being subordinate to inferior but celebrity chef Luna Deletto (Chloé Astor). She quits her job but can’t let go of her dream to open her own restaurant. This leads her reluctantly to a job as cafeteria cook at the juvenile migrant hostel run by Lorenzo (François Cluzet).

We know the beats of this story; Cathy will be softened and inspired by the youngsters, all desperate for a chance at a life in France before compulsory deportation when they turn 18. They will help her put her woes into perspective and break down the walls of independence she has built around her. Regardless of the predictability, Julienne-Petit keeps us engaged with great characterisation and a gritty realness that belies its optimistic cadence. Lamy, in particular, and many of the winsome teens playing her ‘brigade’ are what makes it so immensely watchable. Only GusGus (Yannick Kalombo) is painted with a heavy hand – his cuteness overdrawn. We see glimpses of the boys’ stories but never get lost in pity.

The third act is improbable but delightfully enjoyable nonetheless. We are thoroughly on the side of the misfits, Cathy included, hoping that someone will give them the chance they deserve. The ending is surprisingly moving and enough for me to forgive GusGus having the final word.

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