I would love to have been in the audience in Hawick in the Scottish borders for the premiere of this documentary; it was filmed in the town by artist Mark Lyken during a six-month residency with local outfit Alchemy Film & Arts. A collection of brief snapshots of the day-to-day, Lyken’s film is proof that there is no such thing as ordinary life. Maybe it’s his curious, kind-natured way of looking at people, their rhythms and routines, but scenes here become gently moving in ways that are hard to pinpoint exactly. That said, the film’s 90-minute running time definitely puts this in the realm of a concentration challenger.

Still, it’s a people watchers’ treat. Lyken has captured some lovely moments of warmth and community: the town’s Scrabble club nattering away; a group of wild swimmers whooping to gird themselves for a dip. In one of my favourite scenes, kids watch Buster Keaton in a darkened classroom; we don’t see the screen, just their faces. One little girl is tickled pink; a boy curls his lip with an expression somewhere between scepticism and contempt. There’s some animal entertainment too: cows in a dairy strapped in for milking by a metal contraption that looks like the harness on a rollercoaster. When it’s over the cows shuffle off like the world’s least impressed fairgoers.

This is a gentle, affectionate film but I have to confess it tested my patience at times and I did wonder if, outside Hawick, this might work better as a gallery installation.

• Notes from a Low Orbit is available from 16 June on True Story