Can a documentary be too quirkily perfect? This might be a good example of one, where, after thoroughly enjoying every perfectly framed moment and oddball character, I began to wonder if the whole thing was constructed like a Christopher Guest mockumentary.

It isn’t, though, as I discovered in the Q&A afterwards. The story is about the little known world of competitive porridge making and the annual championships in the tiny village of Carrbridge in Scotland. A village mover and shaker, Charlie Miller, got the idea of staging something that would put the village on the map and porridge making, so intrinsic to Scottish culture, seemed to be the perfect choice.

Charlie has been the Chieftain of the Golden Spurtle (the carved wooden stick traditionally used to stir porridge as it cooks) competition for 30 years. This is his last year heading the team, which includes managing an enthusiastic and long-suffering team of villagers, tasked with washing porridge pots, selling raffle tickets, and erecting fences and marquees.

What sparked the interest of Australian director Constantine Costi was contestant Toby Wilson from Sydney. He is a taco chef and likes the idea of being the world champion at something. We follow his second attempt at the title, having made the final six the previous year. We are also introduced to other returning contestants, reigning champion Lisa, with her faithful husband, adorably intense health food shop owner, Nick Barnard, who is sure that the combination of oat type is the key to winning.

There is humour, deliberate, messiness in filming to make it all seem more real, and the added drama of torrential rain on the event day, which puts an end to the much anticipated Olympic style march down the main street.

I learnt many fascinating tidbits in the Q&A afterwards. Rolled oats are not allowed and Toby found fresh NSW oats and stone ground them himself the night before he flew out. Charlie, after the premiere screening, jumped up and said it was the best film he had seen since Debbie Does Dallas. Nick said “Echoes of Coen brothers, eh?”

This is a thoroughly enjoyable crowd-pleasing film that will do well and will appeal to older and family audiences. I struggle to put my finger on why I felt dissatisfied with it when it really has all the elements you might expect from a documentary like this. It called to mind Set! (2021) about competitive table dressing, which has a similar approach to a niche activity and individuals who take it far too seriously.

With The Golden Spurtle though, it felt like many of the contestants weren’t actually taking it that seriously, and were doing it for a bit of a lark. The way each person is presented also feels slightly cartoonish and two-dimensional, played for laughs even though we do usually feel like we are laughing with the people not at them. We don’t really discover much about their motivations or the history and context of porridge.

Perhaps this is not a criticism but it feels like a story that won’t stay with me, a high GI breakfast that will leave me hungry not long afterwards.