Cuties (2020)

Director: Maïmouna Doucouré
Stars: Fathia Youssouf, Médina El Aidi-Azouni, Esther Gohourou
Runtime: 96 minutes

Synopsis: Amy, an 11-year-old girl, joins a group of dancers named "the cuties" at school, and rapidly grows aware of her burgeoning femininity - upsetting her mother and her values in the process.

Performances: 8/10
Screenplay: 7/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 6/10
Score/Soundtrack: 6/10
Enjoyment Factor: 7/10

Verdict: I sincerely feel bad for Maïmouna Doucouré. The Frenchwoman's directorial debut went from being an acclaimed festival hit to being this year's most controversial film in a matter of days. Netflix's disgustingly misleading marketing effort to promote "Cuties", or "Mignonnes" in French, buried it as can be observed on its IMDb page where it holds an abysmal rating of 1.7/10 as I'm writing these words, making it one of the worst-rated movies on the platform. The reviews there are equally revolting as it's obvious that those who wrote them didn't even give the film a fair shot. But I did, and I can confirm that while it is uncomfortable to sit through, it makes it clear that it's exactly what you should be feeling while watching it.

What's most ironic about "Cuties" is the fact that it's not the first movie to tackle themes of adapting to maturity or the over-sexualization of young girls in the world of modern dancing. Catherine Hardwicke's "Thirteen" and "Little Miss Sunshine" respectively immediately come to mind. Hell, even "Taxi Driver", considered today as one of the greatest movies ever made, could be criticized for the same reasons as Doucouré's honestly impressive effort. It very bluntly speaks out about the very thing it's accused of, and does it in quite an effective way that had me invested from start to finish. It's not an easy watch by any means as it does contain very awkward imagery, but that's what makes it so powerful and honest. The performances are all stellar, especially that of Fathia Youssouf who managed to beautifully capture the struggles of adapting to a new, hypersexualized cultural world in order to be accepted by her peers as well as being imprisoned by her family's traditional and conservative values. She very clearly plays a character that is very personal to Doucouré, who herself lived through a very similar situation when she was a young refugee.

If you're put off by "Cuties" simply because of the controversy it started about a month ago, I urge you to reconsider your decision to boycott it. It's one of the most sincere films of the year that coherently tackles a very sensitive subject that, whether we like or not, needs to be talked about more. I for one cannot wait to see what Doucouré has in store in the future.

FINAL GRADE: 7/10