When the great Haddaway asked ‘What is Love’ in 1993, we never got a definitive answer, which is a shame really, as it feels like it’s worth knowing. Instead we were offered a lyrical tome on the vulnerability that comes with the whole love thing.

Exploring this notion further is this superb indie film, starring Dale Dickey in what could easily be considered a career defining role.

Staying at the picturesque lake side campsite 7 in a part of southwest Colorado in her caravan is Faye (Dickey).

She is there, alone, on the off chance that an old school friend Lito (Wes Studi), may join her at some point.

In the meantime, she has a surprising amount of visitors, considering her remote locale, who occupy some of her time until he does, or doesn’t show, as well as two books and a battery powered radio for company.

The US independent film scene doesn’t currently feel as healthy as it once was. There was a time when it was producing intriguing directors, such as Jim Jarmusch, David Lynch, Wes Anderson et al, who were all extraordinarily talented with their own unique vision and voice.

For some reason, there appears to be less of them around these days, with genuine talent seemingly unable to break through in quite the same way. But at least there’s hope, by way of Max Walker-Silverman.

American Walker-Silverman makes his debut as director and writer (which he also produced and co-edited) with this phenomenal film.

In short, it’s a film about love. All kinds of love. About finding love, being in love, losing love, and the hope of finding love again.

It could also almost be described as a romantic comedy, only shot with a stark reality filter, with the all too real knowledge that love doesn’t always go our way.

It features Dickey playing a middle aged woman, who has lives on her own pretty much for the last seven years since her partner died. Her performance is utterly heart-breaking, to the point that she could teach Haddaway a thing or two about true vulnerability. It’s a role that demands the actress to be raw, all giving, and brave, and she delivers on all fronts. In one word: stunning.

She’s almost upstaged however by the scene-stealing youngster Marty Grace Dennis who plays Dice, who is the film’s only source of humour, and plays her scenes perfectly.

Walker-Silverman directs with impeccable assuredness for his first feature, and writes with a bittersweet tenderness, with his script featuring a middle aged woman looking for love. It’s a film stripped back of all glamour, with only a touching inner beauty of its own competing with the film’s subtle yet striking dusty landscapes, captured with some truly elegant cinematography. All in all it makes him a prospect to get excited about.

It’s an extraordinary love letter to love, that doesn’t sugar coat the facts in that, in what we and Haddaway know too well, it’s not always easy.

And like all the best love songs, this one is delicate, fragile, soul-bearing, and most of all, hopeful.

So if you think you know what real love is, think again.