An unflinching study of a young girl caught up in a complicated adult world, The Unpolished explores the consequences of a counterculture gone bad. Stevie (Céci Chuh), a wild but fiercely intelligent teenage girl, must cope with the instabilities of her drop-out parents (Birol Ünel & Pascale Schiller). Whilst they spend their days getting high, hooking up deals and escaping their responsibilities, Stevie takes control of her own life, making the journey towards maturity and independence that her parents ought to have made years ago.

With music by Einstürzende Neubauten's Jochen Arbeit, and cinematography by Diego Martínez Vignatti (Battle in Heaven, Jápon), The Unpolished is one of the most startling and assured debuts of recent years.