CUTIES (MIGNONNES) (2020)

Written & Directed by Maïmouna Doucouré



Available to stream now on Netflix



The arrival of "Cuties (Mignonnes)", the debut feature from French filmmaker, Maïmouna Doucouré, to these shores through Netflix has been met with raucous criticism and calls to remove the film from the streaming channel. This drama (which won Doucouré the Best Director award in the World Cinema section of this year's Sundance Film Festival) actually focuses on an eleven year old Senegalese girl being raised in a traditional Muslim home while trying to fit in her new country of France. But it is the images of pre-adolescent girls dancing in a sexually provocative way that has outraged some Americans, claiming the film is nothing more than child pornography and implying that it will somehow help fuel the sex trafficking trade.

Based on the hysterical reactions from these people (including some US political figures in a lazy attempt to get their name in the press), I'm certain none of them have actually seen "Cuties". Please ignore all of this absurd chatter. I have seen "Cuties" and can guarantee you that the attack on this film is not only unwarranted but highly inaccurate. "Cuties" is a brilliantly insightful drama which uses these provocative images to make it's point. With the film, Doucouré is actually trying to bring attention to the enduring sexualization of women in the media and how this sends out confusing messages to impressionable young girls who do not yet have the comprehension to fully understand what they are seeing.

Shy and insecure, Amy (a dazzling Fathia Youssouf) just wants to fit in with the rest of the girls at her school. Yet she is bullied or dismissed by many of the other students. But after watching Angelica (Médina El Aidi-Azouni), a fellow classmate and neighbor, in the laundry room dancing seductively with her beautiful long hair whipping back and forth, Amy becomes fixated on her. Angelica is part of a small clique of girls at school who perform together as a dance troupe called "Cuties". Admiring from afar while they rehearse for a talent show, Amy desperately wants to get closer to Angelica and become a part of this group. With fierce determination (and a few humiliating moments), Amy is able to win them over and hang out with these girls. After watching some music videos involving sexually provocative dancers, she slyly suggests they incorporate these moves in to their routine for the contest, certain that this will help them win.

What makes Amy feel even more isolated is the discovery that her father is returning home with a second wife. Confused by this custom, Amy is further frustrated as she watches her mother (Maïmouna Gueye), bravely announcing this marriage to friends and preparing for the wedding, while knowing she is completely devastated by this development and unable to say how she really feels.

The director Doucouré (who is French-born of Senegalese descent) has used her own experiences of growing up torn between her religious values and an increasingly hypersexualized world, which young girls are particularly vulnerable, to write the screenplay. She has no interest in moralizing but to reveal the internal struggles that her characters' face of learning what it means to be female in our current society. The film captures a time in young girl's life where she's grappling with understanding her self-image and curiosity about sexuality but trying to use social media for answers. One scene that perfectly captures the confusion and ignorance of the girls is when one of them finds an open condom, then proceeds to blow it up like a balloon. The others shriek and won't come near her, fearing she has contracted AIDS. Their solution to cure her is to wash her mouth out vigorously with soap.

With her desperate desire to feel acceptance and belonging, Amy begins to display outrageous behavior and commit rebellious acts, losing all sense of what is right and wrong. This leads to her mother and aunt (played by Mbissine Thérèse Diop who is best known for her role in the 1966 feature, "Black Girl", one of the first African films to receive international acclaim) to bring a healer in order to exorcise the evil spirits in her. Amy's body reacts, shaking and writhing violently, yet we are left feeling unsure if she's simply just playing along or actually having her childhood demons removed.

Part of what has stirred up the outrage over "Cuties" was Netflix's misguided attempt to promote the film using suggestive images and the seductive dance routines of these young girls without the proper context. The point of "Cuties" is not to titillate or exploit. Doucouré with her audacious film wants to provoke meaningful conversation on how women in many cultures continue to be undervalued and oppressed, voiceless in decisions that can effect their lives. I really hate the idea that "Cuties" may fall victim to a loud yet negligible group trying to have the film cancelled. The issues that the film raises should be discussed, addressed and supported.