A beguiling if not especially plausible film that freely blends sleaze and sentimentality, Irina Palm would not be so notable if it didn’t have Marianne Faithfull as its leading lady. That the woman who spawned so many scurrilous rumours about The Rolling Stones can now be seen playing a character who describes herself as a “middle-aged frump” will surely make her long-time admirers feel plenty decrepit themselves.

Belgian filmmaker Sam Garbarski was savvy to cast the ’60s icon in his Berlin-fest prizewinner, seeing as the relationship between Faithfull’s public image and her role here is more compelling than anything in Irina Palm’s credulity-stretching storyline. She plays Maggie, a meek English widow who takes a job in a Soho sex club to raise money for her ailing grandson. Despite Maggie’s fears about what her family and friends will think, her soft touch makes her a big hit with the punters and the club’s boss (Miki Manojlovic).

While Faithfull’s put-on prurience is never terribly believable, it doesn’t really prevent one from enjoying Garbarski’s seedy story of English folk walking on the wild side. Indeed, she seems rather bemused by the experience as well, especially when Maggie sheds her reticence about the gig and shocks her neighbours with news of her activities. That one of the latter is played by Faithfull’s fellow English rose Jenny Agutter adds yet more potency to Garbarski’s strange exercise in MILF (or maybe GMILF) fantasy-spinning.