À mains nues

Slow moving disjointed short. The coming-of-age 12 year old girl character is curious about sex and physical contact with males, The only "sexual" encounters are when a male of her age gently traces one of her covered breast with a finger and a male in his early twenties kisses her on the lips. She responds by walking away.

The most provocative scene is at the very end where she is seen sitting nude on the edge of her bed contemplating her life as the lights of a car flashes by her window. Earlier in the short, she stood fully clothed in the middle of the road outside her window and waited for a car to come. She jumps out of the away as a car approaches, blowing its horn. One can only speculate she is trying to muster the courage to stand naked in the middle of the road.

This is a delightful study in early adolescence, and an accomplished performance by Anne Charlotte, who sadly has only this short film to her credit.

Despite the Netherlands references on the IMDb report this appears to be a French TV short drama, and a welcome addition to the treasure trove of French films in this genre.

There are no English sub-titles, but you don't need to be fluent in French to appreciate this subtle portrayal of a twelve year old girl coming to terms with the physical and emotional changes of puberty.

Hopefully we'll see films like this collated and remastered for DVD one day, or remastered for download.