Director E.E. Cassidy’s polished and stylized debut tells the story of two young women delicately testing the boundaries of their friendship and finding new romance in their shared love of everything from the ’60s.

Sadie (Melia Renee), a shy teenage photographer, quietly views the world through the lens of her 35mm Pentax camera. Her life is transformed when Nico (Mary Elise Hayden) — an alluring girl with blunt bangs, cool vintage clothes and an intriguing “monster foot” — joins her high school photography class. Nico’s art is her life and, even though she has Milroy’s disease (hence the abnormal swelling in her foot), nothing will stop her from having fun. Living by the rule of “express things with style,” the sophisticated and experienced Nico introduces Sadie to a Los Angeles inspired by the British mod movement of the ’60s. Finding escape in this thrilling world of elegant lines and classic aesthetics — think skinny ties, pressed pants, hooded parkas, mini-skirts, Jamaican ska and Italian Vespas — Sadie begins to discover herself. Soon the heady rush of friendship is replaced with something else: a same-sex crush for Nico. Whether this will be reciprocated cannot be revealed here, but we know that We Are the Mods has ounces of style, a must-have soundtrack and winning performances from its two leads. -- Carol Coombes