Post by CrepedCrusader on Sept 14, 2020 2:10:05 GMT
Following my last post on the movie here, I decided to actually review it. Sort of in a hurry, but I'll do my best. (WARNING: There might be some light spoilers.)
11-year-old Amy is a recent immigrant to France, along with her mother and two younger brothers. Amy's family are strict Muslims, and we see early on how Amy chafes at the expectations put upon her by this upbringing. In an early scene, at what appears to be a religious gathering of women, we listen along with Amy as those gathered are warned about the importance of women remaining modest, and are told that hell will have many more women than men due to their failure to uphold that modesty. The woman leading the gathering talks about the importance of obeying one's husband, and how they must "remain fearful" of educating their children. It is at the end of this meeting that we see Amy display her first sign of rebelliousness: she steals some beads that someone leaves behind.
11-year-old Amy is a recent immigrant to France, along with her mother and two younger brothers. Amy's family are strict Muslims, and we see early on how Amy chafes at the expectations put upon her by this upbringing. In an early scene, at what appears to be a religious gathering of women, we listen along with Amy as those gathered are warned about the importance of women remaining modest, and are told that hell will have many more women than men due to their failure to uphold that modesty. The woman leading the gathering talks about the importance of obeying one's husband, and how they must "remain fearful" of educating their children. It is at the end of this meeting that we see Amy display her first sign of rebelliousness: she steals some beads that someone leaves behind.
Amy's father is absent, and her mother is vague when Amy asks when he is coming to join them. Later, while hiding, Amy overhears the truth: her father has taken a second wife, who he will soon bring to France with him. She listens as her mother (who still doesn't know Amy can hear her) tries to put on a brave front over the phone to an acquaintance while telling them the news, even as she breaks down in tears after hanging up.
Soon, Amy meets a new "cool" group of kids from school, including Angelica, who lives in the same building as Amy. The girls have formed a dance troupe called "Cuties", and they hope to gain entry to an upcoming dance competition. Amy seems envious of the Cuties, who appear to spend their days having carefree fun with little or no supervision, while she is stuck at home helping to care for her brothers. She starts learning dance moves from salacious music videos. When the Cuties have a falling out with one of their members, Amy joins the crew without her mother's knowledge, the other girls being impressed with the moves she has learned from those videos. We don't learn much about the other girls' home lives other than Angelica, who has an antagonistic relationship with her older brother, and who rarely sees her parents due to their long work hours. Her parents, she tearfully tells Amy, have told her that she's a bad daughter.
While the girls see themselves as being "grown up", they are reminded time and again that they are really just kids. Some boys they try flirting with reject them as being too young, and a boy who they are video chatting with gets angry when he sees Angelica on camera, telling her that she's just a kid and should be playing with dolls. There is a scene where the girls are dancing, and you can see that, in their minds, they are just like those beautiful women they see in music videos,. Cut to the reaction of the audience watching the dance: shocked disgust at the gyrating of the little girls.
In her escalating attempts to rebel against her conservative home life and fit in with her friends, and against the backdrop of the upcoming wedding of her father to his "second wife" (which Amy is expected to attend), Amy starts stealing, lying, and even fighting girls from a rival dance troupe. Eventually, her behavior starts to alienate not only her family, but even the very friends she is trying to impress.
In the end, Amy will have to decide the kind of person she wants to be, with the movie ending on a bit of a sweet note.
Edit: forget to give my rating. On a 1-10 scale, I'd probably give it a soft 8.
Edited: Corrected a character's name.
Soon, Amy meets a new "cool" group of kids from school, including Angelica, who lives in the same building as Amy. The girls have formed a dance troupe called "Cuties", and they hope to gain entry to an upcoming dance competition. Amy seems envious of the Cuties, who appear to spend their days having carefree fun with little or no supervision, while she is stuck at home helping to care for her brothers. She starts learning dance moves from salacious music videos. When the Cuties have a falling out with one of their members, Amy joins the crew without her mother's knowledge, the other girls being impressed with the moves she has learned from those videos. We don't learn much about the other girls' home lives other than Angelica, who has an antagonistic relationship with her older brother, and who rarely sees her parents due to their long work hours. Her parents, she tearfully tells Amy, have told her that she's a bad daughter.
While the girls see themselves as being "grown up", they are reminded time and again that they are really just kids. Some boys they try flirting with reject them as being too young, and a boy who they are video chatting with gets angry when he sees Angelica on camera, telling her that she's just a kid and should be playing with dolls. There is a scene where the girls are dancing, and you can see that, in their minds, they are just like those beautiful women they see in music videos,. Cut to the reaction of the audience watching the dance: shocked disgust at the gyrating of the little girls.
In her escalating attempts to rebel against her conservative home life and fit in with her friends, and against the backdrop of the upcoming wedding of her father to his "second wife" (which Amy is expected to attend), Amy starts stealing, lying, and even fighting girls from a rival dance troupe. Eventually, her behavior starts to alienate not only her family, but even the very friends she is trying to impress.
In the end, Amy will have to decide the kind of person she wants to be, with the movie ending on a bit of a sweet note.
Edit: forget to give my rating. On a 1-10 scale, I'd probably give it a soft 8.
Edited: Corrected a character's name.
