There is a euphoric defiance in this impassioned and lovable film, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year, based on the true story of pioneering gay campaigners in London who supported the striking miners in 1984, and in so doing had to overcome tribal suspicions among both London’s gay community and the miners of south Wales. It’s a movie with poignant resonances in modern Britain, where there are generations who have never known work, dependent on a state apparently resolved to rely on imported coal and fracking to keep the lights on. Yet it is also a country with gay marriage – supported, to his credit, by a Conservative prime minister. Warchus’s film makes the case that the strike was not simply a Light-Brigade charge into oblivion but a triumphant spur to gay rights and human rights, self-respect and pride.

Ben Schnetzer gives a gutsy performance as Mark Ashton, the campaigner who decides to break out of what he sees as the parochialism of gay politics and support the miners. He faces suspicion from those who see miners as a macho tribe who wouldn’t lift a finger to help gay people.

Mark raises some cash and finds a sympathetic Welsh mining leader to accept it: a dignified and intelligent performance from Paddy Considine as Dai. They travel to Wales to find the strikers are far more open-minded and worldly than they get credit for – with wonderfully warm and funny performances from Imelda Staunton and Bill Nighy, who uses his gift for taciturn shyness to glorious effect.

This a richly enjoyable film – and one that persuades you that the good guys might actually have won in the end.