Thrill-seeker teens walk away, now. Look at the 12A and put it back inඣ the trousers. There’s no flesh-on-rubber here, just heart-to-fake-heart as loner Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) hangs with a girl, Bianca, off t’internet. Anatomically correct, she can do a lot of what a man wants from a woman, but her buyer didn’t pay his $6,000 for that. She is rather a substitute for a real relationship, one he can lead entirely in his head.

In Craig Gillespie’s funny/sad Capra-esque debut, Lars’ infatuation is the result of a life steeped in grief. His mother died during his birth and 27 years on he remains overwhelmed, physically and💮 mentally unable to connect. Bianca, the doll, symbolises matricidal guilt. It’s twisted, but for Lars it works – helped no end by lovely sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer) and reluctant brother Gus (Paul Schneider), both ꦯurged to play along on the advice of Lars’ shrink Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson).

Family, though, is one t🤪hing. The entire town bending over backwards for a neighbour’s neurosis – no one ever mocking or beating the crap out of Lars for his peculiar fixation – is downright iffy. It’s schmaltz cranked 💫to Truman Show levels, the hero seemingly a case of Prozac away from shrilling, “Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!”

Salvation comes from Gosling (as well as Clarkson, Mortimer, Schneider – all excellent). In a quality year the lead didn’t nab an Oscar nom, but he shows new qualities here and carries his simple Lars convincingly – no mean feat with a script often verging on cliché (“Sometimes I get so lonely I forget what day it is, and how to spell my name.”) He takes hard-to-believe make-believe and makes it believable... What’s more, get past the fantasy/sex-doll façade and you’ll find a message the 59 million active users of Facebook could well take heed of. Fake interaction to excess isn’t healthy &ndas🎶h; face-to-human-face heals. Sometimes it may be easier to keep a distance, but, as Lars And The Real Girl proves, it’s sim🐟ply not the best thing to do.