Raw, intimate, and beautifully performed, Angelfish is that rare catch that delivers as a heartfelt romantic drama, complete with stellar turns from young leads who make the screen pop with their chemistry.

Angelfish works so well as a romantic drama because the stakes in its love story feels so palpable. Writer and director Peter Andrew Lee achieves this by infusing his lead characters with depth, with dreams, with scars and doubts. When they fall in love, they do it with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Set in 1993, Angelfish stars rapper Princess Nokia as Eva and Jimi Stanton as Brendan. She comes from a Puerto Rican family in the Bronx and aspires to be an actor. He is an Irish American high school dropout who works at a local supermarket. They meet at his work and the attraction is instant. In a perfect world their relationship and the hopes that come with it would flourish without restriction. But the world is not perfect. There are lines of race and culture, and burdens of family and responsibility.

Princess Nokia and Stanon are both terrific in their roles, portraying the aspirations and burdens of their characters with an engrossing naturalism. Princess Nokia shines in her debut film role as a young lady who has been foisted the responsibility of her family’s future, including that of her disabled older brother. So too does Brendan have to deal with family issues, notably an emotionally absent mother and a younger brother who is going off the rails. Burgeoning actor Jim Stanton plays the role admirably in its mix of blue-collar grit and old school romanticism.

When on screen together the chemistry between Princess Nokia and Stanton is undeniable. We care what happens to this couple, and a lot of that has to do with the stakes that are at play, and the interaction between these two burgeoning actors who give this love story heart and spirit.

Shot in Brooklyn and the Bronx, Angelfish has an authenticity to its New York City love story that matches the authenticity of its characters. Lee has delivered a romantic drama of much emotion and credibility, and that stars two young actors sure to make their mark in no time to come.