In A World...

When the previous king of the movie-trailer voice-overs passes away, it leaves a vacuum to be filled, and Carol (Lake Bell) thinks that she could be the fresh new sound the industry needs. However, her sexist father (Fred Melamed), himself on the verge of retiring from the voice-over game, is championing up-and-coming hell-raiser Gustav (Ken Marino) for the position, so against his wishes and behind his back, she goes for it anyway.

There's also some romantic and personal subplots, with many of the characters played by either fantastically funny actors (Rob Corddry, Nick Offerman) or stand-up comedians (Demitri Martin, Tig Notaro), and while for the most part these parts of the movie are little less involving and little more sit-com-y, they're still hilarious to watch. There's also a few great A-list cameos to keep an eye out for.

While the idea of making an entire movie out of something so niche as the trailer voice-over industry seems a little bit alienating to larger crowds, it's surprising just how well In A World… works, and that is almost solely down to Bell's fantastic central performance, as well as the astute and hilarious screenplay. The fact that the script was also written by Bell (who, in true overachieving fashion, also directed the movie) just goes to show that she truly is a talent to watch. She's like a less-annoyed-at-the-world Lena Dunham.

There are moments in the movie when things get a little bit too contrived and a little bit too coincidental, but every time you fear the movie might lose itself up its own ass, it'll floor you with its killer one-liners, or a splendidly subtle visual gag (like a magazine headline: "The Ten Most Interesting Numbers!").

For the most part, the Manic Pixie Dreamgirl is dead and buried after being parodied into oblivion. Now we have something new and better to replace her with; the Tortured Artist Normal Girl, like Kirstin Wiig in Bridesmaids or, indeed, Lena Dunham in Girls. We can now add Lake Bell's Carol to that list, and if we get a few more like her, then this is a world you'll want to live in.