Between Two Worlds is a realistic depiction of the pain and complications caused by the unintentional, and at times accidental, overlapping romantic lives of a group of upwardly mobile young people attempting to achieve success in adulthood. The film does not gloss over the confusion and hurt that may result in discovering the poor personal choices of loved ones and, much like the title suggests, it accurately portrays the muddled reluctance accompanying many decisions which people often regret.

Chris Mason, following his supporting role in Legend with Tom Hardy, plays affable Scouser, Ryan, a humble writer trying to overcome a break-up by spending time in London with his ambitious friends, the decidedly vulgar hedge fund manager John (played brilliantly by former Trinity May Ball Headliner, Example) and Connor (teen heart-throb Lucien Laviscount), a young actor seemingly on the cusp of the big-time. Despite considerable peer-pressure, Ryan repeatedly refuses to emotionally medicate his break-up with the easy conquests offered by "clubs, cars and women", yet, later, in a moment of weakness, self-deflatingly resigns to the insistent advances of a lonely older woman.

While it is sometimes difficult to feel sympathy for superficial characters who go to extremes and are all-too willing to easily repudiate their earlier actions within a story, director James Marquand (son of late Return of the Jedi director and Cambridge alum Richard Marquand) somehow manages to elicit nuanced performances from all of his cast, demonstrating how truly torn the characters are as they stumble through life. The genuine regret they experience reflects on the disconnect between lives glimpsed on social media versus reality, and what the metropolis means to each individual.

Example plays the lascivious best-friend role naturally, and his hedonism is a good foil for Ryan who is looking for 'the real thing'. Hannah Britland shines as the intelligent and articulate Anna and might someday be considered a young British Meg Ryan-in-the-making with her girl-next-door appearance and sideways smile.

Despite being a small British film, the themes contained are standard fare for many young-adult Hollywood movies from the past 25 years, particularly classics such as Less Than Zero, St. Elmo's Fire and Pretty In Pink which, inter alia, deal with the effects of socio-economic disparity in romance, alongside the self-destructive behaviour of young people wrapped up in a hunger for success which tears away at their lives and relationships.

Charlie Anson (who once read Biology at Cambridge), mirroring his performance of the ignorant and pretentious Larry Grey in Downton Abbey, is a scene-stealer (complete in adjustable red brace-suspenders) as slime-ball talent agent Freddie, a performance worthy of any of the hateful yuppie creeps played so well by James Spader in the 1980's. Elliot 'Example' Gleave's cockney cadence is reminiscent of the superb timing of English comedian Matt King (RocknRolla, London Boulevard) and furnishes the production with some laughs while poking-fun at so-called lad-culture.

Between Two Worlds does not take itself too seriously and even borrows elements from hit US television series Entourage along with a cameo appearance by ITV's Ben Shephard. Much like the motto of the piece, this movie is “aspirational not miserable” and will be playing on limited release at cinemas.