Female sexual awakening is tricky enough at the best of times, but for 16-year-old Mira (Preeti Panigrahi), head prefect at her strict Indian boarding school in the Himalayas, her covert romance with new boy Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron) is at rebellious odds with her good girl reputation. And that’s before she finds herself in direct competition with her charismatic mother, Anila (Kani Kusruti, star of the forthcoming Cannes hit All We Imagine As Light).

This impressive first feature from Indian director Shuchi Talati burrows into the skin of its high-achieving, ambitious central character. Mira wants to be the best at everything, including sex, and she’s prepared to put in the homework. Girls Will Be Girls is a drama that plays out in charged looks and tacit connections, but which hints at destructive, gender-based tensions in this rarefied world of academic privilege. Talati’s work with her young cast is first-rate; this sensitively handled coming-of-age picture deservedly won an audience prize at Sundance earlier this year.

• In UK and Irish cinemas