SuperBob is the U.K.’s response to the superhero craze, a perfect blend of action and that awkward, quintessential British charm.

Scroll to the end of this post for an exclusive clip from SuperBob!

What would actually happen if a random person got struck by a meteor and gained supernatural abilities? Maybe they wouldn’t obtain fame and glory, like the superhero movies have taught us to expect. Maybe life would just… carry on.

This is the scenario proposed by SuperBob, a new movie by Jon Drever which infuses the tired superhero genre with a healthy dose of social realism and self-deprecating humor, and genuine heart.

The movie stars Brett Goldstein as Bob, a mailman from Peckham who gets struck by a meteor and obtains superpowers. Six years pass, and the novelty wears off — “It’s funny what you get used to, isn’t it?” remarks Bob’s handler, played by Doctor Who‘s Catherine Tate.

Now, Bob is just a man, who happens to be a superhero.

With no villains to fight and no other people with powers to contend with, Bob is swept up by the government, taught to control his powers and promptly employed, serving as a political pawn as much as a super-speedy one-man response team when disaster strikes. He does his job, like everyone else, and pays his bills, like everyone else.

Related: SuperBob interview: Brett Goldstein talks reinventing the superhero genre

SuperBob follows Bob on his day off, a documentary crew showing up outside his house to conduct The Office-style interviews with Bob and his friends, to discover the secrets of his glorious life. As it turns out, the highlight of his glorious life is a (hilarious) gospel choir session, and… well, that’s pretty much it.

But Bob does have a mission: He’s going on a date, for the first time in six years. Enter a quirky cast of characters, that include a wonderfully brash (and inexplicably Latina) Natalia Tena and the always-charming Laura Haddock, and we’ve got ourselves a movie.

Brett Goldstein’s nuanced, engaging performance elevates an already brilliant script, and the special effects are flawless. The love story is sweet, if predictable, and the underlying tragedy — both of Bob’s own life, and the horrible accidents that he’s helpless to prevent — makes SuperBob more than your average rom-com.

It is always a little bit precarious when a movie tries to challenge the superhero formula, whether it’s a mainstream film like Birdman or the lesser-known Australian gem Griff the Invisible, because somehow we need the suspension of disbelief, the knowledge that with superpowers come a super life, with sky-high stakes and the promise of glory.

Yet SuperBob manages to be uplifting, to celebrate the power of an ordinary life, gently poking fun at the superhero genre without falling into parody territory. It’s just so damn earnest, and Goldstein’s performance makes it impossible to dislike anything he does or says, as awkward and potentially offensive as it sometimes is.

SuperBob is the perfect antidote to the wave of Hollywood superhero movies we’ve been infused with, reminding us that the banality of our human existence, and our deep-seeded desire to adapt to a status quo, cannot be subverted with a cape and a flash of lightning. But that’s not a bad thing. SuperBob is the superhero we need, and we should be lucky to have him.

SuperBob is in U.K. cinemas from today, October 16, and is also available online from the same date with exclusive behind the scenes extras, bloopers and deleted scenes on www.WeAreColony.com/SuperBob

Here’s an exclusive clip from SuperBob, introduced by director Jon Drever: