Guapis

Ever hear of a discretion shot? Implied content? Suggestive camera angles? No one involved in the making of this movie did. Here's a hint: most of the "naked" scenes in movies involved clothed actors being shown from the shoulders up, so you get the idea, without flashing the studio and theater. You can ALLUDE to things happening but for the love of all that's good, DO NOT actually show despicable content on camera. Because then you're not teaching a lesson to change things. You're just exasperating the exact problem you're trying to solve. You can have child actresses, or you can have sexualized content. You can't put the two together and claim moral superiority.

Cuties fails the very ones it claims to want to protect in the worst possible way. That not one person making the movie realized this, is almost comically sad.

Sometimes movies have to tell an uncomfortable story, sometimes movies have to depict uncomfortable trurh. Despite all storytelling shortcomings Cuties has - I can agree that it at least has a valid point about children oversexualization these days. But you don't have to depict it so bluntly! Some may say that this is the point, you have to watch it and think to yourself: "Damn, this is sickening". But this is just mental gymnastics at its finest. You don't have to depict a litetal murder to tell that "murder is bad", you don't have depict real, unacted abuse, rape, torture to say that these things are bad! I get it, maybe Cuties story never could've worked if they haven't depicted oversexualizing scenes. But if that's the case - this movie shouldn't even exist. It should be a book, an animation with adult actors, whatever. Just something that doesn't take this message too far into reality.

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.

Its a decent movie portraying modern western society and a kid's adaption into a new lifestyle in the midst of it all. The film tackles themes of identity, sexualization of young girls, and the pressures of societal expectations. It provides a critical commentary on the hypersexualization and objectification of young girls in modern culture. The director, Maïmouna Doucouré, intended to shed light on these issues and start a conversation about their impact on children's lives. Well the movie gets a lot of criticism because of hiring basically child which is even though understandable but yet a bit hypocritical. Any way its a good movie if you some how ignore that particular fact.

It's important to note that reviews and opinions on "Cuties" have been highly polarized. Some viewers praised the film for its bold and thought-provoking approach, commending Doucouré for highlighting the issue of the premature sexualization of children in society. They argued that the film's uncomfortable portrayal was necessary to bring attention to this societal problem.

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.