Funny, dramatic and at times suitably frustrating, Alex & Eve is just the kind of multicultural rom-com needed in Australian cinemas.

For all of the numerous Australian films released year after year, rare is the occasion when a film focuses on the many communities that comprise multicultural Australia. While there are films aplenty about the indigenous, Anglo, and (more recently) homosexual community’s within Australia, absent is the representation of Australians from European, Asian or Arabic ethnicity. Odd, considering the Australian film industry purports itself as progressive bastions of cultural diversity.

Filling the void is Alex & Eve, a film marketed as a clash of cultures rom-com, yet is so much more. Based on the play written by Alex Lykos, the film stars Richard Brancatisano as Alex, a good Greek Orthodox boy who falls in love with Eve, a good Lebanese Muslim girl played by Andrea Demetriades.

Of course many complications arise due to their different ethnic backgrounds, which is especially declared by the parents of this couple who make it known that a Greek Orthodox man simply cannot marry a Lebanese Muslim woman.

Much comedy of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding variety features throughout Alex & Eve. This is expected and it often works, mainly thanks to the absurdity found in the clash of cultures between Greek and Lebanese where even the origins of baklava (a popular pastry desert dish) is grounds for war.

Yet the real strength of Alex & Eve is in the dramatic narrative that’s presented in two fronts: the first a story of forbidden love as this young couple are kept apart for reasons cultural and religious; and the second a story of identity, as these second generation Australians are compelled (often forcefully) to follow the customs and prejudices of their ancestral homeland.

Director Peter Andrikidis proves to be just the experienced hand needed to make the many elements of Alex & Eve work. A two decades long veteran of high quality TV drama, along with being a graduate of the Nick Giannopolis brand of ground breaking ethnic comedy (with directing stints on TV series Acropolis Now and the high grossing comedy Kings of Mykonos), Andrikidis provides the right amount of space for the comedy to work, yet more importantly provides depth to key dramatic moments that hit their mark and linger, raising the stakes in this complex relationship while drawing our sympathies (or perhaps even empathy from some viewers.)

Brancatisano is suitably goofy and charming as Alex. Yet the standout here is Andrea Demetriades, the striking actress hitting those comedic notes while also portraying the dramatic inner turmoil of longing for a man deemed culturally unacceptable by a family with whom she remains loyal.

Their tale of forbidden love Greek/Arab style is indeed funny. Yet Alex & Eve is also a movie that tells the story of not only a secular Australia but a pluralistic one, where on one corner Greek Orthodox parishioners can worship as they see fit and on another Lebanese Muslim worshippers can do the same. Most importantly it celebrates a country where members of either community should and can mingle freely with one another, without fear. Just don’t mention the baklava.