What an intense and creative film this is and what a treat it was to have the charming Sean Biggerstaff present it at the Stockholm International Film Festival. He is proud of 'Cashback', and rightly so – for you will be pressed to find a prettier fantasy or funnier characters in a film this year.

'Cashback' is director Sean Ellis' debut feature and he recreates the atmosphere of his same-titled short film with deft strokes, breathing life into a fantasy movie masking as a romantic comedy. Do not write it off on the basis of this negatively-connoted label, rather see it as a creative drama that delivers comedy by the bucketload. The fact is that 'Cashback' delves deep into the emotions of its protagonist Ben Willis (Sean Biggerstaff) much like a drama. It opens with his girlfriend dumping him, screaming and throwing things. In the following weeks, Ben suffers from insomnia and thus finds that he has eight extra hours at his disposal. To pass the time, he works the dreary nightshift at Sainsbury's.

The supermarket job is mundane at first but soon offers an outlet for Ben's creative side. As an art student, he learns to find the beauty in still images every second of the day. This includes the unspeakable beauty in a spilled bag of green peas on aisle four. It also includes freezing time and undressing women (Ben finds great source of interest in the female form),arguably the film's most intense sequences. Here there is a kind of seamless intercutting of scenes, scenery, flashbacks, reality and fantasy that all melt together fluently as the director navigates through Ben's life and thoughts. The latter soothingly narrates the course of events, which cements his likability as a central character.

The unspeakable beauty in the dreamy cinematography is rivalled only by the other side of the tapestry – the comedy. I was rather unprepared for this diversion into hilarity, and expected Cashback to be a drama. Naturally, the amount of well-placed comedy floored my low expectations. In the front row for hilarity sits Ben's two colleagues at Sainsbury's, whom he introduces in brilliant ways. These are two dumb and goofy guys in their late teens who pass their time doing pranks and acting like idiots, such as smuggling sex toys in women's shopping bags at Sainsbury's and guffawing at the effect when she sees it and picks it up. The passing of time indeed proves a central theme in 'Cashback'.

But there is a wide array of noteworthy performances from the supporting cast, not just in Barry and Matt. Ben's boss also proves a massive crowd-pleaser and the level of seriousness which he applies to situations (such as the mighty football tournaments between supermarkets) is a goldmine for comedy. As ever, there is a romantic interest (Emilia Fox) – a girl who works at the same supermarket during the same shifts – who is the film's most likable and interesting character, bar none. My theatre audience also demanded Sean Biggerstaff on some info on this lovely actress.

It needs to be said that 'Cashback' is a sexually aggressive film with plenty of nudity and stories of sexual awakening. All women are also suspiciously attractive (it has often been brought up, beamed Biggerstaff in the Q&A session). It's funny, it's sexy and it's sweet – puffed full of insights in Ben's narration. Better yet, it is a surprisingly ambitious film that strikes me more as a mainstream feature than quirky indie fare (if it wasn't for the nudity). For instance, the classical score is so epic and well-fitted that it sounds like it belongs in 'Gladiator' or any other high-profile sweeping epic. For that matter, Sean Ellis has worked in a homage to the latter at one point when the boss gives a rallying speech during the football tournament, telling his employers to think of him 'as Russell Crowe'.

The film has only two faults as far as I can see it: its wildly unfocused story and its slightly cheesy ending. The former did not prove a problem or a distraction, but rather made it feel like 'Cashback' attempted a lot of different story lines and detours and diversions. That said, I can see how it could be considered a problem. The ending discards some of the unpredictable magic by tipping into saccharine but it is nothing fatal. The fact is that Cashback is a remarkable film in both comedy and drama aspects and I urge you to watch it if you are even a slight fan of Biggerstaff.

9 out of 10

College art student Ben Willis (Sean Biggerstaff) is dumped by his first real girlfriend Suzy. He is so devastated that he develops insomnia. With nothing to do during the night and running low on cash, he decides to get a job at an all-night supermarket. It's his way to get Cashback for his useless time. Sharon Pintey (Emilia Fox) is the quiet weary checkout girl. Sean Higgins is his womanizing lifelong friends. He starts playing with time and even freezing it.

The constant narration hides the fact that this is a pretty thin story. It is beautifully shot. Much of the talk is about the naked women. They are model good looking and I have no problems with that. If the naked girls and the slick look are taken away, there isn't much else. The romance with Sharon has limited drama. It may have worked as a short but expanding into a full length movie stretched the material a bit thin.

Initially I had expected more of a laugh-out-loud comedy from this movie, but found myself not laughing once throughout the entire movie. Now, that doesn't mean that the movie was bad or crappy, far from it. "Cashback" was actually a rather nice movie and a fresh take on the romantic comedy genre.

The story in "Cashback" is about Ben Willis (played by Sean Biggerstaff) who gets dumped by Suzy (played by Michelle Ryan) and for some reason he can't sleep after that incident. So he have 8 extra hours every day. He takes up working at a supermarket during the night shift to pass time, and finds out he is able to freeze time. Ben is an artist and starts painting the women in the supermarket, taking off their clothes while time is frozen. Also working at the supermarket is Sharon Pintey (played by Emilia Fox). Ben falls in love with her and a relationship starts to bloom.

"Cashback" is driven by a good story, although it is not a storyline that pushes forward at a high pace. The story, however, is well complimented by good acting performances. And the score that is used in the movie really works so well with the story. The music was perfectly used and well-selected.

The movie is unlike other romantic comedies I have seen, because "Cashback" is not really a happy story, it is more the story of a broken heart, the path to mending it and managing to find love again when everything seem gray and hopeless. If you are expecting a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy that is straight off the writer's desk in Hollywood, then you might be better off with another movie, because "Cashback" is not one of those mainstream movies.

"Cashback" is a beautiful movie, both story-wise and cinematography-wise, but personally I found the movie to take rather long to get almost nowhere, and it dragged on for a bit too long. I could have used something more upbeat to speed the movie along, and for that reason I give it only a 5/10 rating.