“Cuties” Film review

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 14, YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR PARENTS IF YOU ARE ALLOWED, IF THEY SAY NO…IT MEANS NO!

Cuties, an Indie that recently premiered on Netflix, has been brewing up quite the controversy lately. It all started with its poster, which showed young girls in particularly revealing outfits, garnering outrage from audiences. Now having hit the streaming service, critics have been raving about it, and audiences have been utterly trashing it. The funny thing is, the movie isn’t actually worth all the fuss. There are some questionable moments, and the subject is inherently uncomfortable, but it’s just a decent movie with good performances.

The director, Maïmouna Doucouré, reportedly received death threats from the marketing of this thing. Arguably, the poster was a bit much, but this director, clearly talented, did not in any way deserve this kind of backlash. Cuties should have been better, to be honest, I’m just lost on the reasoning behind all of this. Fathia Youssouf is Amy, a tween African-French girl living in France. As she hits puberty, she will be forced to marry, obey her husband, and make babies. Messed up, right? Amy, while walking with her two siblings, then notices a group of girls dancing, and spies on them from above. Noticing her, the troupe are quite hostile at first, throwing rocks and yelling insults, misunderstanding her innocent intentions.

From the start, Amy can tell that these girls were troublemakers. From their outfits, to behavior in the schoolyard, they were high-class rebels. The Cuties (their name) is led by Angelica, a gleeful outcast who finds passion in dance, and the one to really accept our heroine. The others are still utter jerks to her, and haven’t quite taken the girl under their wing just yet. Viewers can feel the main character’s urge to be accepted, to be popular, dressing up with crop tops, stealing a man’s phone, and the want to trend on social media. The device opens a whole new world for her, and that’s when a member of their group get’s kicked out. Yasmine, played by Myriam Hamma, has a quarrel, and is banned from the competition they’ve been training for, leaving a spot open for Amy, who’s already taught herself the routines.

You can tell that this movie was the target of a right-wing movement, but as the running times goes on, audiences in their right mind know that it’s no worse than something such as Good Boys. It’s practically the same movie, plopping younger kids in gratuitous situations. This, of course, is a drama, and has the balls to cover these topics. The troublemaking and rebellious girls have wild misconceptions about sex, blow up condoms, chat with boys online, and share sensitive photos. It’s the flawless guinea pig for the backlash that it’s getting, putting 11-year old actresses in this kind of situation, having them wear revealing outfits for the dance sequences, and downright do odd things. Everything I just stated should be written off as a part of growing up, especially for Amy, forced to live a life that she does not care for. These are poor and generally non-white children having to grow up in a completely inappropriate environment.

The premise doesn’t give you much. The movie’s aspirations are actually much deeper than what it looks like. It’s trying to tell a compelling coming-of-age story while tackling issues like identity, and social acceptance. Although, for the most part, this is a poignant look at girlhood, it can also be a bit tedious and, unfortunately, difficult to sympathize for. The actors, especially Youssouf, are all doing a bang-up job, and there’s a certain sense of humor to it, but nothing else feels all-too special. Cuties is an important film to watch, no question, dealing with problems that the world’s fragility closes off, and I can happily argue that this clearly talented director succeeded in showing viewers the hardships of this type of life. Though I wish it’d be extraordinary.

The final opinion is: Cuties features a few fine performances, and a couple quirky elements, making it a movie not good enough to justify its existence, and not bad or disturbing enough to make all the controversy worth it…$TREAM IT

"Cuties" Brings Dancing and Some Serious Controversy to the Table

“Cuties” Film review

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