Guapis

...that are in the age range that they actually come of age in: 10-13 years old. So in that sense Cuties is both a rare film and an important one (would recommend to parents and their daughters).

It's not as risqué as its made out to be. I was prepared to not even make it through the film, much less like it given all the outrage. Like it was a Lars Von Trier, Larry Clark, or Vincent Gallo movie with 11 year old girls.

Now don't get me wrong, there's definitely some age inappropriate dancing in tight outfits but any normal adult male who can contextualize little girls for what they are, young children, not sex objects, should have little to no trouble sitting through it. Who knows you might even like Cuties. It's a good film and speaks to an segment of the population that is not given these types of stories.

No stars. I rate this movie a zero. Low budget trash depicting very young girls in a vile and disturbing sexual manner.

The story is the story of the mother, not the daughter. Yet, at a certain point somebody decided that sexing up very young women would make it a way better movie. I simply don't get French cinematography in the last two decades. So many movies who lack a plot, but are very concerned with the sex lives of people 6 to 16.

As for empowering women, this is the precise opposite. It simply plays the role of the abusive old woman who would cut the clitoris off the young woman if she were from East Africa instead of West Africa. It is about keeping women in their place, obedient and voila! you get bliss.

I just finished watching the film in its entirety. Outside of the dance scenes, this is an incredible film. The acting was amazing and the story was very compelling. I empathize with Amy and her friends. My heart broke for her mother's struggles. The cautionary theme surrounding the effects of technology and social media on pre-teens was on-point.

That said, the dance scenes were downright stomach churning and, in my opinion, did not need to be anywhere near as graphic as they were to support the plot. I'm not going to pretend that pre-teen children aren't beginning to discover their sexuality at this age. It's a natural part of life and, in an appropriate fashion, is reasonable to address in a coming-of-age story. But to have child actresses dance more provocatively than many women in music videos crossed the line and ruined the film for me.

Right intentions, but rather awful execution.

I'll start off by saying I do believe the intentions of the filmmakers were positive. There are undoubtedly minors being exposed to similar themes to that of the film, so it's imperative that people - particularly parents - are made aware of this.

With that said, 'Cuties' goes about it in entirely the wrong way. The message, which does become clear at the end, is to stop the exploitation of children - yet here they are doing just that. There are scenes and/or camera angles that simply should not have been filmed and shown. There is no need for certain shots.

More should've been left for the viewer to work out, as opposed to shoving it into our faces and therefore practically doing what they are criticising. For example, they could've zoomed away at particular points or got an extreme close up of the characters' eyes when they were doing sexualised things.

For what it's worth, I will say I respect the performance of lead Fathia Youssouf (Amy) - I felt a fair amount of emotion from her at certain points. None of the other cast members stick out in my memory, though none produce anything negative.

I've spent a long time thinking about how I was going to word my review, much longer than I usually would at least. It's slightly tricky as, as mentioned, I do believe it intended to do the right thing. Unfortunately though, it ends up - in my eyes - doing what it's trying to say is bad.

There are some extreme thoughts on this film, not all of which are right in my opinion. However, as said, it isn't a good watch - even if only judging on film merits.