Cuties


Cuties is a 2020 French teen coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré on her feature film directorial debut. The film stars Fathia Youssouf, Médina El Aidi-Azouni and Maïmouna Gueye in the lead roles. The film is based on a traditional Senegalese Muslim girl who is caught and torn between two contrasting fortunes, traditional values and internet culture while also speaks about hyper sexualization of pre-adolescent girls. The plot of the film also drew comparisons resembling similar to few prominent films such as The Fits, a 2015 American drama film directed by Anna Rose Holmer, 2019 French-Senegalese drama film Atlantics directed by Mati Diop and Girlhood, a 2014 French drama film directed by Céline Sciamma. The film was premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition sector of 2020 Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2020 and won the Directing Jury Award praising the script of the film.

Cast

Eleven year old immigrant girl Amy, originally hailing from Senegal lives with her mother Mariam in one of the Paris poorest neighbourhoods in an apartment along with her two younger brothers awaiting for her father to rejoin the family from Senegal. Things turn swiftly as Amy is fascinated by a disobedient neighbour Angelica's free spirited dance clique called Cuties, an hiphop troupe which has contrasting fortunes and characteristics to Mariam's traditional customs, values and traditions.

Production

The film was announced by filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouné as her debut directorial venture who rose to limelight and prominence with her award winning 2016 short film Maman which was selected and premiered in over 200 film festivals and also won around 60 awards in several international film festivals. Maïmouna penned the script for the film taking her life experience as a refugee girl into account. The script eventually won the Sundance's Global Filmmaking Award in 2017.
The casting procedure for the film was held for nearly six months and Fathia Youssouf, a 11 year old girl among the 650 candidates was chosen to play the female main lead role in the film after being auditioned. In January 2020, after the film premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Netflix purchased the worldwide rights of the film excluding France to release the film in the platform.

Release and reception

The film was premiered in few international film festivals including the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, 70th Berlin International Film Festival and was originally supposed to have its theatrical release in France on 1 April 2020 coinciding with the April Fool's Day but the theatrical release was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. The film was released in 40 languages. Cuties was just one of three French films to be screened at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. It was globally streamed via Netflix on 3 June 2020 excluding France and received positive reviews from critics.
, the film holds an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 17 reviews with an average rating of 7.21 out of 10.