This Beautiful Fantastic (U.K./U.S.A., 2016)

This Beautiful Fantastic is a contemporary fairy tale revolving around the most unlikely of friendships.  That between a reclusive young woman who dreams of being a children’s book author and a curmudgeonly old widower.  It’s all set against the backdrop of a beautiful garden in the heart of London.

Bella Brown is a beautifully quirky young woman who dreams of writing and illustrating a successful children’s book.  She was abandoned as a child and is therefore consumed by OCD.  Her awful boss at the library and a paralysing fear of flora and fauna add to her troubles.  But Bella is down but not out.  She has a spark, an edge, a talent and a voice that we can feel from the start.  When she is forced by her landlord to deal with her neglected garden or face eviction, she meets her nemesis.  A match and mentor in Alfie Stephenson, a cantankerous, loveless, rich old man who lives next door and is an amazing horticulturalist.