★★★★☆

ECLECTIC director Todd Haynes, known for everything from the bold Far From Heaven to the rapturous Carol, returns with this endearing and visually creative little film all about the longing for interpersonal human connection and seeing the beauty in the meticulous detail that makes up the patchwork of an awe-inspiring larger world.

The drama is split over two distinct timelines separated by half a century but connected through a higher meaning that is unveiled quite beautifully as the film progresses.

In 1977 we follow Ben (Pete’s Dragon star Oakes Fegley), a 10-year-old boy from the American Midwest who has been left newly deaf after a lightning strike and in mourning over the death of his mother (played in flashbacks by Michelle Williams). He soon sets off to New York City in search of an absentee father he’s never known.

That is both contrasted and complimented by the story of 12-year-old Rose (revelatory newcomer Millicent Simmonds), also deaf but growing up instead in New Jersey in 1927. Her historical childhood tale visualised in beautiful, old-fashioned black-and-white contrasts the evocative colour of Ben’s future story.

Yearning for an end to her sense of loneliness created by her restrictive father Dr Kincaid (James Urbaniak), she also flees to the Big Apple to try and find her absent mother. Once there she meets actress Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore), a silent screen star whom Rose has idolized for years but who appears to have no time for children.

Although it can feel quite slow arriving at how exactly the dots are connected and stars are aligned, the culmination of its themes and style is worth the wait. It feels like something of a steadily building magic trick that hints and teases along the way with a warm-hearted tone, embodied in Carter Burwell’s playful score; a plethora of visual flourishes depicting New York’s labyrinthine streets, brought to life by Edward Lachman’s sumptuous cinematography; and plenty of wistful narrative pit stops.

Far from being gimmicky and maudlin like the thematically and narratively similar Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, it’s imbued with a sense of empathy for its characters. Both Ben and Rose are well-rounded protagonists and role models for deaf children who may feel similarly detached from the world around them.

It provides a sincere portrait of childhood wonderment that will speak as much to the imagination and earnestness of a younger audience as it will the nostalgia of adults for a more wide-eyed time in their life gone by. Its reach may ultimately exceed it grasp but it’s a great lesson in how ambition and heart can help a film reach above its station.

Released on February 6