Attempting to follow in the footsteps of successful low-budget council estate flicks like Fish Tank, Kicks tells the story of a pair of working class Liverpudlian teenagers who obsess over a Liverpool footballer and dream of one day becoming WAGS (footballers’ Wives And Girlfriends).

The basic plot is simple: Nicole is a lonely girl who idolises legendary Liverpool footballer. She kisses a poster of him every night before she goes to bed, she dreams of one day marrying him, and she hangs around outside the club’s training ground just to catch a glimpse of him.

During one of these mundane outings, Nicole bumps into a true WAG wannabe: Jasmine. For some reason Jasmine takes a shine to her slightly obsessive new aquaintance and the film switches from a portrait of lonely obsession into a tale of friendship build around the fragile fragments of their difficult lives.

Once we cycle through a series of obvious pointers as to the problems faced by the pair (parental affairs, loneliness, war and poverty are all shoved into the narrative with clumsy visual cues and narrative afterthoughts) writer Leigh Campbell again returns to the topic of obsession. The pair soon begin an implausible stalking campaign which culminates in a ridiculous face-off that incorporates a number of plot twists that are predictable and silly in equal measure.

The performances of the central duo go some way to making up for uneven scripting, with Kerrie Hayes milking the millions of close-ups lavished upon her for all they’re worth, but their shifting and underdeveloped characterisation never allows any real emotional connection to be built up.

Overall this is disappointing and frustrating outing that should have done much better with the interesting and relevant subject matter that it claims to be addressing.