"Cuties" Movie Review

For the past month, Netflix has been under fire for releasing the coming of age film "Cuties" on their platform. Accused of promoting child pornography and sexualizing young girls, there was temporarily a “#CancelNetflix” trend taking place.

However, if you look past all of the criticism and watch the film for yourself, you will see that it’s not terrible. It’s a compelling film that delivers a message to everyone about how young teenagers are easily influenced by what they see portrayed in the media. If anything, it’s a call to action for people to be more careful about what they post as younger individuals are watching.

“Cuties” is about Amy, an 11-year-old Senegalese girl struggling to find her identity. After she finds out that her father is coming home with a second wife, she rebels against the conservative customs and traditions of her family.

To distract herself from her home life, she tries to fit in with a dancing group called the “Cuties.” Amy wants to be accepted and liked so she engages in everything they do: talking about sex, boys, wearing revealing outfits, doing risky activities, and dancing inappropriately.

Amy transitions from being a responsible girl taking care of her family to not caring at all and only wanting to impress her new “friends''. She lies, steals, and uses her body to get what she wants.

The director of the film is trying to convey a message about how middle school girls are acting older than their age and know how to sexualize themselves just by copying what they see on social media and Youtube. They’re doing it for social media likes but don’t fully understand the repercussions of their actions. Unfortunately, the message may come across differently in certain scenes, such as when they are twerking or moving their bodies like video vixens from a music video.

Every moment in the film is shocking to the point where you’re going to find yourself screaming “What?” at the TV the whole time. This movie is more than just dancing, it’s a story about acceptance, family dynamics, and challenging our ideas about the over-sexualization of women in our society.

If you haven’t watched it yet, you should do it soon before Netflix decides to remove it due to all of the backlash. Ignore the trailer and criticism, just press play and judge for yourself.

If you have any opinions about this show or any show recommendations, please comment or use the contact form below :)