Cuties (2020)

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, <em>'Cuties'</em> 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.

If you have this any higher than a 1/10 you are a criminal & the F.B.I will be coming for you shortly.

This movie has a beautiful and powerful message but is hard to watch at times.

At its heart it's a coming of age movie with the protagonist finding her way between african/arabic tradition and western society hyper sexualised role models that both encourage and express expectations upon her what a woman is. And the realisation that she is still a child which is also the only time our protagonist smiles.

The trailer really doesn't help the movie which is a shame because more people should watch it.

This is not a family film, but it is not sexually exploitative. It's a story about a socially inept, naive girl making bad choices in her interactions with her peer group, escalating her behavior, and paying the price. She's coping with issues at home poorly. These actions are predominately NOT sexual in nature, despite what the recent manufactured outrage would suggest.

Being hypercritical and attentive to the cries of 'child porn'... There was one dance where the camera lingered longer than I felt it needed to make its point. The dance on the stairs felt more "for the audience" than it did "for the characters" which admittedly feels weird when the dancers are 11 years old. And the final dance is probably the most "provocative", but it pretty skillfully acted as the climax where the realization of her wrong direction dawns on her. Up until this point we are experiencing the movie through the tumultuous mind of Amy, and it's not until this final dance that the view from the world around her starts to permeate, she is able to see herself from outside herself, and it finally breaks her feverish pace toward her heretofore unseen corruption.

One listen of Cardi B's chronologically similar #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit "WAP" did immeasurably more damage, and promoted infinitely more sexualization of young females that this movie ever could. (Look up the lyrics at your peril.)

I gave it a 7/10, but I can't recommend it unless you're up for a painful portrayal of a troubled girl growing up in the modern world.

Final thought: It's funny to me that it took an entire nation's outrage to get me to watch a movie about dancing.