Good personages, humor, images, music, and gender content Excellent direction and expression Top minority presence and message
Sober but impressive
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,4 Metascore — Roger Ebert — Rotten Tomatoes Audience — IMDB 7,2 TMDB 6,8 Critics average 8,4 Audience average 7,0
Cast: Sharon Ishpatao Fontaine, Yamie Grégoire, Étienne Galloy Director: Myriam Verreault Writers: Naomi Fontaine, Myriam Verreault Music by Louis-Jean Cormier Cinematography by Nicolas Canniccioni Film Editing by Amélie Labrèche, Sophie Leblond, Myriam Verreault
Good script, personages, direction, images, music, and gender content
A 16-year-old girl mourns the death of her mother while discovering sex and losing her virginity. A chaotic world in which she tries to define herself, while the others have difficulty understanding her. An integer movie without the usual cliches Fine use of music
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,3
Metascore 7,2
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 5,4
TMDB 6,0 Average critics 7,3 Average public 6,5
Cast: Jessica Barr, Katie Prentiss, Claire Manning
Director: Jessie Barr
Writers: Jessica Barr, Jessie Barr
Music by Nate Heller
Cinematography by Scott Miller
Film Editing by Naomi Sunrise Filoramo
Great direction, images and music Excellent personages, dialogues and gender content
“A hymn to teenage idealism and hormones” (Roger Ebert) The usual Lea Pool’s family situations – difficult but crucial mother-daughter relationships and absent fathers – play a role in the background
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 5,4
Metascore 5,3
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 6,9 Average critics 6,5 Average public 7,5
Cast: Piper Perabo, Jessica Pare, Jackie Burroughs
Directed by Lea Pool
Written by Judith Thompson
Music by Robyn Schulkowsky
Cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie
Film Editing by Michel Arcand
“Little Forest” by Soon-rye Yim (South Korea, 2018)
Good script, personages, dialogues, images and gender content Excellent direction
A simple story, a very enjoyable movie
A milder movie in its political commitment than the previous “South Bound,” still the social angle is very similar in this story of a young woman – and her former classmate – who leaves the city to realize who she is. This movie marks the social contrast between the city where others determine who you are and the countryside where there’s only you to do so. It also reinforces the original standpoint on the family that the precedent movie “South Bound” brought forward, in which the parents build for themselves an independent way of life, and stick to it even when their kids suffer from it. However, when they finally understand their parents’ choice, the children end up appreciating and valuing it. Little Forest prolongs this theme: the mother has left her child without any apparent reason, and the child learns how to accept and honor her mother’s decision.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics —
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,0
IMDB 7,0 Average critics — Average public 7,0
Great script, direction and gender content Excellent minority presence and message
This subversive coming-of-age story shows how impermeable to social norms a young girl can be.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,9
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,4
IMDB 6,7 Average critics 7,9 Average public 7,1
Cast: Noée Abita, Laure Calamy, Juan Cano
Director: Léa Mysius
Writers: Léa Mysius, Paul Guilhaume
Music by Florencia Di Concilio
Cinematography by Paul Guilhaume
Film Editing by Pierre Deschamps
Good direction and music Excellent personages and minority representation
A coming of age story in which a 13-year-old girl feels responsible for the people she cares for
Great acting by Sophia Mitri Schloss, her presence captivates
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,9
Metascore 6,2
Roger Ebert 5,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,4
IMDB 5,7
TMDB 7,5 Critics average 6,0 Audience average 7,5
Cast: Sophia Mitri Schloss, Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher Jr., Danielle Brooks, Tony Hale
Director: Megan Griffiths
Writer: Megan Griffiths
Cinematographer: T.J. Williams Jr.
Editor: Celia Beasley
Composer: Mike McCready
Good dialogues, images, music, and minority presence Excellent script, personages, direction, and message Top gender content
As in Lea Pool’s later movies, the relationship mother-daughter is a central theme, shown as a key element to the development of the child, while the fatherly figure is depicted as a loser and a source of conflict / Excellent acting
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,3
Metascore 8,0
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,4
IMDB 7,1
TMDB 6,3 Critics average 7,6 Audience average 6,9
Cast: Karine Vanasse, Alexandre Merineau, Pascale Bussieres, Miki Manojlovic, Charlotte Christeler, Nancy Huston
Written and Directed by Lea Pool
Music by Robyn Schulkowsky
Cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie
Film Editing by Michel Arcand
A good coming-of-age-and-dealing-with my-bullies story… only that the script writer added another layer – as this was not enough! – through showing how tough life was for a lesbian in the 60s Insipid music!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,8
Metascore 6,0
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,0
IMDB 6,0 Average critics 6,4 Average public 7,5
Cast: Kara Hayward, Liana Liberato, Tony Hale, Lucas Jade Zumann, Jordana Spiro Director: Martha Stephens
Writer: Shannon Bradley-Colleary
Cinematographer: Andrew Reed
Editor: Nathan Whiteside
Composer: Heather McIntosh
Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#9)
First Feature
Good dialogues, music and minorities presence Excellent script, personages, direction, images,
gender content and message
The complex story of two sisters (14 and 10) who have put their father on a pedestal and cannot accept the fact that he is but just a man.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,5
Metascore 7,8
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,3 Average critics 8,4 Average public 8,0
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writer: Kasi Lemmons
Music by Terence Blanchard
Cinematography by Amy Vincent
Film Editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire
Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#16)
Good personages, humor, images, music, gender content, minority presence, and expression Excellent script, dialogues and direction
The first half-hour is great, tense, constantly bouncing This third feature by Berman and Pulcini brings some interesting perspective to their second movie, The Nanny Diaries, in which uninvolved motherhood and attachment are central themes. 10,000 Saint deals with uninvolved fatherhood and attachment “a sensitive and interesting film” [Sheila O’Malley] Great acting by Ethan Hawke
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,2
Metascore 6,2
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 5,8
IMDB 5,9
TMDB 5,9 Average critics 6,6 Average public 5,9
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld
Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Writers: Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman
Based on the novel by Eleanor Henderson
Music by Garth Stevenson
Cinematography by Ben Kutchins
Film Editing by Robert Pulcini
Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#32)
First Feature
Good personages, dialogues, music, gender content,
minority presence and message Excellent direction
An 11-year-old girl is caught between the African traditions of her family and the modern-day world, between the childhood that she leaves behind and the unknown of becoming a woman and discovering her sexualized body Note the enormous discrepancy between public and critics’ score!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,0
Metascore 6,7
Roger Ebert 10
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 2,4
IMDB 3,0 Average critics 7,9 Average public 2,7
Original title: Mignonnes
Cast: Fathia Youssouf, Médina El Aidi-Azouni, Esther Gohourou
Directors: Maïmouna Doucouré, Denny Shoopman
Writer: Maïmouna Doucouré (screenplay)
Music by Nicolas Nocchi
Cinematography by Yann Maritaud
Film Editing by Stéphane Mazalaigue, Mathilde Van de Moortel
Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#43)
Good script, personages, dialogues, direction, gender content and minority presence Excellent message
A movie that penetrates you slowly while it builds its personages up thoroughly A coming of age story that reaches deeper and goes further because it avoids superficiality and cliches A movie that shows that intimacy is not a consequence of sex but of knowing each other
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,1
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,0
IMDB 6,3 Average critics 6,1 Average public 6,7
Cast: Tatiana Maslany, Spencer Van Wyck, Steven McCarthy
Director: Kate Melville
Writer: Kate Melville
Cinematography by Celiana Cárdenas
Film Editing by Dev Singh
A series of scenes that have very little to bind them together, with too many things going on
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,7
Metascore 6,1
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,6
IMDB 5,1
TMDB 5,4 Average critics 6,8 Average public 5,7
Cast: Hannah Pearl Utt, Ayden Mayeri, Oona Yaffe
Director: Hannah Pearl Utt
Writers: Jen Tullock, Hannah Pearl Utt
Music by Ryan Tullock
Cinematography by Jon Keng
Film Editing by Kent Kincannon
Good personages, dialogues, humor, and minority presence Excellent gender content
A twisted and unrealistic story but within a comedy’s parameters
Rotten Tomatoes Critics —
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,6
IMDB 6,3
TMDB 6,0 Average critics — Average public 6,3
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mischa Barton
Director: Tamra Davis
Writers: Tim Sandlin (novel), Tim Sandlin (screenplay)
Music by Stewart Copeland
Cinematography by Claudio Rocha
Film Editing by Luis Colina, Michael R. Miller
The work of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (3/3)
Good personages, humor, images, music, gender content, minority presence, and expression Excellent script, dialogues and direction
The first half-hour is great, tense, constantly bouncing This third feature by Berman and Pulcini brings some interesting perspective to their second movie, The Nanny Diaries, in which uninvolved motherhood and attachment are central themes. 10,000 Saint deals with uninvolved fatherhood and attchement… “a sensitive and interesting film” [Sheila O’Malley] Great acting by Ethan Hawke
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,2
Metascore 6,2
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 5,8
IMDB 5,9
TMDB 5,9 Average critics 6,6 Average public 5,9
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld
Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Writers: Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman
Based on the novel by Eleanor Henderson
Music by Garth Stevenson
Cinematography by Ben Kutchins
Film Editing by Robert Pulcini
Good humor, music and message Excellent script and images Top direction and gender content
Laura Dern is magnetic here as a 15-year old girl who wants to discover love, sex and boys, and who tries her best to keep what she provokes under control… a story that so many girls go through. Towards the end, there’s a 23-minute long scene (23 minutes !!!) in which an older and experienced man (Treat Williams) tries to convince Connie (Laura Dern) to let him be her first lover … And it’s not only about what is said but also what emanates from their bodies… Hypnotic! A movie with imperfections (uneven personages and dialogues), but exceptional in many ways
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,6
Metascore 7,4
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 6,2 Average critics 7,6 Average public 6,2
Cast Laura Dern, Treat Williams, Mary Kay Place, Elizabeth Berridge, Levon Helm
Directed by Joyce Chopra
Story by Joyce Carol Oates, screenplay by Tom Cole
Music by James Taylor
Edited by Patrick Dodd
Photographed by James Glennon
Great script and images
Excellent dialogues, personages and direction Top gender content
A movie announcing three of Catherine Breillat’s favorite themes: women’s sexuality; lies and sex; age and sex.
In her urge to discover sex, a 14-year-old girl provoques the world around her while going through unbearable frustrations, not knowing how to deal with her desires… until she gets to the “other side” and finally loses her virginity. Not a ‘pleasant’ movies (the dialogues!) but a powerful one!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,1
Metascore —
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,6
IMDB 6,0 Average critics 8,0 Average public 6,3
Cast: Delphine Zentout, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Etienne Chicot, Diane Bellego, Jean-Francois Stevenin, Olivier Parniere
Written and directed by Catherine Breillat
Music by Jean Minondo
Photographed by Laurent Dailland
Edited by Yann Dedet
Good direction Great personages Top gender content
Just as in 36 Fillette, we follow a not-even-sixteen-year-old girl and her still younger sister as they have their first sexual experience that ends up unexpectedly A movie with the usual Catherine Breillat themes – female sexuality, age differences, virginity – in which everyone is lying to seduce someone else
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,4
Metascore 7,7
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,0
IMDB 6,5 Average critics 7,6 Average public 6,8
Original title: A Ma Soeur
Cast: Anaïs Reboux, Roxane Mesquida, Libero De Rienzo
Director: Catherine Breillat
Writer: Catherine Breillat
Cinematography by Giorgos Arvanitis
Film Editing by Pascale Chavance
A group of four 12-year-old girlfriends discover that things are not always as they seem to be. Their childhood world of playing and believing is over… Interesting work despite a chaotic direction
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 5,0
Metascore 5,0
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 6,8
TMDB 6,8 Average critics 5,0 Average public 7,3
Cast: Christina Ricci, Demi Moore, Rosie O’Donnell
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter
Writer: I. Marlene King
Music by Cliff Eidelman
Cinematography by
Ueli Steiger
Film Editing by Jacqueline Cambas
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,0 Metascore 6,0 Roger Ebert — Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,5 IMDB 6,4 Average critics 6,5 Average public 7,0
Cast: Sabrina Carpenter, Maggie Siff, Danny Trejo Director: Ani Simon-Kennedy Writer: Ani Simon-Kennedy Music by Morgan Kibby Cinematography by Cailin Yatsko Film Editing by Ron Dulin
Original movie combining a girl’s coming of age while her mom goes through the process of becoming a man
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,0
Metascore 7,1
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,8
IMDB 6,3
TMDB 5,4 Average critics 7,1 Average public 6,2
Cast: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Sam Althuizen, Imogen Archer
Director: Sophie Hyde
Writers: Matthew Cormack
Music by Benjamin Speed
Cinematography by Bryan Mason
Film Editing by Bryan Mason
Good dialogues, music and minorities presence Excellent script, personages, direction, images,
gender content and message
The complex story of two sisters (14 and 10) who have put their father on a pedestal and cannot accept the fact that he is but just a man.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,5
Metascore 7,8
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,3 Average critics 8,4 Average public 8,0
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writer: Kasi Lemmons
Music by Terence Blanchard
Cinematography by Amy Vincent
Film Editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire
Good humor, music and message Excellent script and images Top direction and gender content
Laura Dern is really magnetic as a 15-year old girl who wants to discover love, sex and boys, and who tries her best to keep what she provokes under control… a story that so many girls go through. Towards the end, there’s a 23-minute long scene (23 minutes !!!) in which an older and experienced man (Treat Williams) tries to convince Connie (Laura Dern) to let him be her first lover … And it’s not only about what is said but also what emanates from their bodies… Hypnotic! A movie with imperfections (uneven personages and dialogues), but exceptional in many ways
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,6
Metascore 7,4
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 6,2 Average critics 7,6 Average public 6,2
Cast Laura Dern, Treat Williams, Mary Kay Place, Elizabeth Berridge, Levon Helm
Story by Joyce Carol Oates
Directed by Joyce Chopra
Screenplay by Tom Cole
Based On Tom Cole
Music by James Taylor
Edited by Patrick Dodd
Photographed by James Glennon
Great personages, dialogues and message Excellent script, direction and images Top gender content and minority presence
A movie that brings together personages with different physical disabilities, coming from antagonistic backgrounds and religions, and with sexualities diverging from the norm, in a true and poignant story Extraordinary acting by Kalki Koechlin who can express so much and so clearly with her face and her body!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,1
Metascore 6,3
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 7,2 Average critics 6,7 Average public 7,6
Cast: Kalki Koechlin, Revathi, Sayani Gupta
Directors: Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar (co-director)
Writers: Shonali Bose, Atika Chohan
Music by Mikey McCleary
Cinematography by Anne Misawa
Film Editing by Monisha R Baldawa, Bob Brooks, Saksham Verma
Good script, images, music and minority representation Excellent personages, dialogues, direction and message
Top gender content
You may think it will be just another movie about a Muslim girl who is stuck between the traditions of her family and the Western mores in which she has grown up. But the script will surprise you… A movie that (once again) shows that men are the guardians of the traditions while women move ahead – quite understandably when you think that most religions and honor codes were developed by and are in the hands of men… I especially liked the focus on Hala: although she doesn’t say much, you are with her every step of the way A very good movie about integration
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,6
Metascore 7,5
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 5,7 Average critics 7,5 Average public 6,0
Cast: Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, Purbi Joshi, Hatta Azad Khan, Anna Chlumsky
Director: Minhal Baig
Writer: Minhal Baig
Director of Photography: Carolina Costa
Original Music Composer: Mandy Hoffman
Good dialogues and music Excellent script, personages, direction, images, gender content and message
The story of the March sisters with sharpened edges, especially in relationship to women’s financial independence A ‘long’ feature (more than 2 hours) that allows a good buildup of strong relationships between the personages
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,6
Metascore 9,1
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,0
IMDB 8,2 Average critics 9,2 Average public 8,6
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, James Norton, Louis Garrel
Director: Greta Gerwig
Writer: Greta Gerwig, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott
Cinematographer: Yorick Le Saux
Editor: Nick Houy
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Good personages, dialogues, music, gender content,
minority presence and message Excellent direction
An 11-year-old girl is caught between the African traditions of her family and the modern-day world, between the childhood that she leaves behind and the unknown of becoming a woman and discovering her sexualized body Note the enormous discrepancy between public and critics’ score!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,0
Metascore 6,7
Roger Ebert 10
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 2,4
IMDB 3,0 Average critics 7,9 Average public 2,7
Original title: Mignonnes
Cast: Fathia Youssouf, Médina El Aidi-Azouni, Esther Gohourou
Directors: Maïmouna Doucouré, Denny Shoopman
Writer: Maïmouna Doucouré (screenplay)
Music by Nicolas Nocchi
Cinematography by Yann Maritaud
Film Editing by Stéphane Mazalaigue, Mathilde Van de Moortel
Good script, personages, dialogues, direction, gender content and minority presence Excellent message
A movie that penetrates you slowly while it builds its personages up thoroughly A coming of age story that reaches deeper and goes further because it avoids superficiality and cliches A movie that shows that intimacy is not a consequence of sex but of knowing each other
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,1
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,0
IMDB 6,3 Average critics 6,1 Average public 6,7
Cast: Tatiana Maslany, Spencer Van Wyck, Steven McCarthy
Director: Kate Melville
Writer: Kate Melville
Cinematography by Celiana Cárdenas
Film Editing by Dev Singh
Good script, images, music and minority representation Excellent personages, dialogues, direction and message
Top gender content
You may think it will be just another movie about a Muslim girl who is stuck between the traditions of her family and the Western mores in which she has grown up. But the script will surprise you… A movie that (once again) shows that men are the guardians of the traditions while women move ahead – quite understandably when you think that most religions and honor codes were developed by and are in the hands of men… I especially liked the focus on Hala: although she doesn’t say much, you are with her every step of the way A very good movie about integration
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,6
Metascore 7,5
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 5,7 Average critics 7,5 Average public 6,0
Cast: Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, Purbi Joshi, Hatta Azad Khan, Anna Chlumsky
Director: Minhal Baig
Writer: Minhal Baig
Director of Photography: Carolina Costa
Original Music Composer: Mandy Hoffman
Good humor and direction Excellent gender content and message
Everyone is doing it but no one admits it! A teenage girl tries to understand why she’s being rekected as a weirdo-psycho pervert for wanting to discover sex while she sees everyone around her doing it… Fortunaltely, sex is lately a bit more libertated, but hypocrisy still prevails Interesting ending scene between the girl and the priest
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,2
Metascore 7,1
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 6,0 Average critics 7,3 Average public 6,8
Cast: Natalia Dyer, Francesca Reale, Alisha Boe
Director: Karen Maine
Writer: Karen Maine
Music by Ian Hultquist
Cinematography by Todd Antonio Somodevilla
Film Editing by Jennifer Lee
Some interesting personages and situations but the whole doesn’t get anywhere. The choice to use the deep, almost broken voice of a veteran smoker as voice-off for Laurie Lee is difficult to link to the main personage of the film whom we only see as a boy and in his teens.
IMDB 6,4
Cast: Timothy Spall, Samantha Morton, Georgie Smith
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Writers:Ben Vanstone, Laurie Lee (based on the book by)
Music by Peter Salem
Cinematography by Julian Court
Film Editing by David Thrasher
Good images and minority representation Excellent gender content
The innovative direction (images and editing) is worth watching although it does not compensate for the flat and simplistic story
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,4
Metascore 6,4
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience —
IMDB 5,4 Average critics 6,4 Average public 5,4
Cast: Isabelle Barbier, Deeksha Ketkar, Sadie Scott
Director: Emily Cohn
Writer: Emily Cohn
Music by Matthew Liam Nicholson
Cinematography by Saaniya Zaveri
Film Editing by Michelle Botticelli , Emily Cohn
Good dialogues, music and minorities presence Excellent script, personages, direction, images,
gender content and message
The complex story of two sisters (14 and 10) who have put their father on a pedestal and cannot accept the fact that he is but just a man.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,5
Metascore 7,8
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,3 Average critics 8,4 Average public 8,0
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writer: Kasi Lemmons
Music by Terence Blanchard
Cinematography by Amy Vincent
Film Editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire
Good script, direction, gender content and message
A ‘light’ and sunny movie in which each and every one takes from and gives to others
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,5 Metascore 7,8 Roger Ebert — Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,0 IMDB 5,6 Average critics 7,7 Average public 5,8
Cast: Mina Farid, Zahia Dehar, Benoît Magimel Director: Rebecca Zlotowski Writers: Teddy Lussi-Modeste, Rebecca Zlotowski Cinematography by Georges Lechaptois Film Editing by Géraldine Mangenot
Two high school nerdy girlfriends decide to ditch their “good girls” reputation before leaving high school. A movie that keeps surprising you
Metascore 6,3
IMDB 6,0
Cast: Chanté Adams, Jenica Bergere, Matt Besser
Director: Laura Terruso
Writers: Jennifer Nashorn Blankenship, Laura Terruso
Music by Jay Israelson
Cinematography by Benjamin Rutkowski
Film Editing by Stacey Schroeder, John Wesley Whitton
A script that could have been developed into a powerful movie but that remains superficial and bland – although good screen presence by Grace VanderWaal
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,3
Metascore 6,0
Roger Ebert 5,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 6,2 Average critics 5,8 Average public 7,1
Cast: Grace VanderWaal, Graham Verchere, Giancarlo Esposito, Karan Brar
Director: Julia Hart
Writer (novel): Jerry Spinelli
Writer: Kristin Hahn, Jordan Horowitz, Jerry Spinelli
Cinematographer: Bryce Fortner
Editor: Shayar Bhansali, Tracey Wadmore-Smith
Composer: Rob Simonsen
Great personages, dialogues and message Excellent script, direction and images Top gender content and minority presence
A movie that brings together personages with different physical disabilities, coming from antagonistic backgrounds and religions, and with sexualities diverging from the norm, in a true and poignant story Extraordinary acting by Kalki Koechlin who can express so much and so clearly with her face and her body!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,1
Metascore 6,3
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 7,2 Average critics 6,7 Average public 7,6
Cast: Kalki Koechlin, Revathi, Sayani Gupta
Directors: Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar (co-director)
Writers: Shonali Bose, Atika Chohan
Music by Mikey McCleary
Cinematography by Anne Misawa
Film Editing by Monisha R Baldawa, Bob Brooks, Saksham Verma
Good dialogues and music Excellent script, personages, direction, images, gender content and message
The story of the March sisters with sharpened edges, especially in relationship to women’s financial independence A ‘long’ feature (more than 2 hours) that allows a good buildup of strong relationships between the personages
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,6
Metascore 9,1
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,0
IMDB 8,2 Average critics 9,2 Average public 8,6
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, James Norton, Louis Garrel
Director: Greta Gerwig
Writer: Greta Gerwig, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott
Cinematographer: Yorick Le Saux
Editor: Nick Houy
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Good script, images, music and minority representation Excellent personages, dialogues, direction and message
Top gender content
You may think it will be just another movie about a Muslim girl who is stuck between the traditions of her family and the Western mores in which she has grown up. But the script will surprise you… A movie that (once again) shows that men are the guardians of the traditions while women move ahead – quite understandably when you think that most religions and honor codes were developed by and are in the hands of men… I especially liked the focus on Hala: although she doesn’t say much, you are with her every step of the way A very good movie about integration
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,6
Metascore 7,5
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 5,7 Average critics 7,5 Average public 6,0
Cast: Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, Purbi Joshi, Hatta Azad Khan, Anna Chlumsky
Director: Minhal Baig
Writer: Minhal Baig
Director of Photography: Carolina Costa
Original Music Composer: Mandy Hoffman
Great script, personage, dialogues and gender content Excellent direction and images Top minority presence and message
Coming of age? This movie puts it the other way around, as Summer, a 16-year-old girl, wants to fulfill her (contagious) desire to discover the world around her and experience religion (Islam), dance, sex, and everything that triggers her interest. After the necessary clashes, parents and peers eventually support her, understanding that the freedom that is paramount to her age cannot tolerate any compromise. Whose coming of age is it, thus?
Khalil Gibran’s poetic image – children are arrows that parents shoot and have then to follow – comes to mind. Young people show us the way! Today, this could be our new reality: think about Greta Grünberg and many others in Hong-Kong and elsewhere… I love it!
The songs are great, but the constant (and unnecessary) ‘atmosphere’ music deprives the movie of some of its sharpness Great acting by Zoe Renee: “Renee and Missick’s performances are so remarkable and the story is so compelling, I left the movie with a new feeling: hope that audiences watching this movie may be more empathetic towards others’ life changes.” [Monica Castillo]
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,0
Metascore 7,5
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,8
IMDB 5,4 Average critics 8,1 Average public 7,1
Cast: Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dorian Missick, Hisham Tawfiq, Kelly Jenrette, Ashlei Foushee, Damien D. Smith, Maya Morales
Director: Nijla Mu’min
Writer: Nijla Mu’min
Cinematographer: Bruce Francis Cole
Editor: Collin Kriner
Composer: Jesi Nelson
A good coming-of-age-and-dealing-with my-bullies story… only that the script writer added another layer – as this was not enough! – through showing how tough life was for a lesbian in the 60s Insipid music!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,8
Metascore 6,0
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,0
IMDB 6,0 Average critics 6,4 Average public 7,5
Cast: Kara Hayward, Liana Liberato, Tony Hale, Lucas Jade Zumann, Jordana Spiro Director: Martha Stephens
Writer: Shannon Bradley-Colleary
Cinematographer: Andrew Reed
Editor: Nathan Whiteside
Composer: Heather McIntosh
Good script, personages, dialogues, images and gender content Excellent direction
A simple story, a very enjoyable movie
A milder movie in its political commitment than the previous “South Bound,” still the social angle is very similar in this story of a young women – and her former classmate – who leaves the city to realize who she is. This movie marks the social contrast between the city where others determine who you are and the countryside where there’s only you to do so. It also reinforces the original standpoint on the family that the precedent movie “South Bound” brought forward, in which the parents build for themselves an independent way of life, and stick to it even when their kids suffer from it. However, when they finally understand their parents’ choice, the children end up appreciating and valuing it. Little Forest prolongs this theme: the mother has left her child without any apparent reason, and the child learns how to accept and honor her mother’s decision.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics —
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,0
IMDB 7,0 Average critics — Average public 7,0
Great personages, dialogues and message Excellent script, direction and images Top gender content and minority presence
A movie that brings together personages with different physical disabilities, coming from antagonistic backgrounds and religions, and with sexualities diverging from the norm, in a true and poignant story Extraordinary acting by Kalki Koechlin who can express so much and so clearly with her face and her body!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,1
Metascore 6,3
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 7,2 Average critics 6,7 Average public 7,6
Cast: Kalki Koechlin, Revathi, Sayani Gupta
Directors: Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar (co-director)
Writers: Shonali Bose, Atika Chohan
Music by Mikey McCleary
Cinematography by Anne Misawa
Film Editing by Monisha R Baldawa, Bob Brooks, Saksham Verma
Great direction, images and music Excellent personages, dialogues and gender content
“a hymn to teenage idealism and hormones” (Roger Ebert) The usual Lea Pool’s family situations – difficult but crucial mother-daughter relationships and absent fathers – play a role in the background
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 5,4
Metascore 5,3
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 6,9 Average critics 6,5 Average public 7,5
Cast: Piper Perabo, Jessica Pare, Jackie Burroughs
Directed by Lea Pool
Written by Judith Thompson
Music by Robyn Schulkowsky
Cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie
Film Editing by Michel Arcand
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,9
Metascore 7,3
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,4
IMDB 6,7 Average critics 7,1 Average public 7,1
Cast: Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Lynette Curran
Director: Cate Shortland
Writer: Cate Shortland
Music by Decoder Ring
Cinematography by Robert Humphreys
Film Editing by Scott Gray
Great script, personage, dialogues and gender content Excellent direction and images Top minority presence and message
Coming of age? This movie puts it the other way around, as Summer, a 16-year-old girl, wants to fulfill her (contagious) desire to discover the world around her and experience religion (Islam), dance, sex, and everything that triggers her interest. After the necessary clashes, parents and peers eventually support her, understanding that the freedom that is paramount to her age cannot tolerate any compromise. Whose coming of age is it, thus?
Khalil Gibran’s poetic image – children are arrows that parents shoot and have then to follow – comes to mind. Young people show us the way! Today, this could be our new reality: think about Greta Grünberg and many others in Hong-Kong and elsewhere… I love it!
The songs are great, but the constant (and unnecessary) ‘atmosphere’ music deprives the movie of some of its sharpness Great acting by Zoe Renee: “Renee and Missick’s performances are so remarkable and the story is so compelling, I left the movie with a new feeling: hope that audiences watching this movie may be more empathetic towards others’ life changes.” [Monica Castillo]
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,0
Metascore 7,5
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,8
IMDB 5,4 Average critics 8,1 Average public 7,1
Cast: Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dorian Missick, Hisham Tawfiq, Kelly Jenrette, Ashlei Foushee, Damien D. Smith, Maya Morales
Director: Nijla Mu’min
Writer: Nijla Mu’min
Cinematographer: Bruce Francis Cole
Editor: Collin Kriner
Composer: Jesi Nelson
Great script and images Excellent dialogues, personages and direction Top gender content
A movie announcing three of Catherine Breillat’s favorite themes: women’s sexuality; lies and sex; age and sex.
In her urge to discover sex, a 14-year-old girl provoques the world around her while going through unbearable frustrations, not knowing how to deal with her desires… until she gets to the “other side” and finally loses her virginity. Not a ‘pleasant’ movies (the dialogues!) but a powerful one!
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,1
Metascore —
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,6
IMDB 6,0 Average critics 8,0 Average public 6,3
Cast: Delphine Zentout, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Etienne Chicot, Diane Bellego, Jean-Francois Stevenin, Olivier Parniere
Written and directed by Catherine Breillat
Music by Jean Minondo
Photographed by Laurent Dailland
Written and Directed by Catherine Breillat
Edited byYann Dedet
Great script, personages, direction, images and gender content Excellent message
A girl – who does everything ‘wrong’ because of her impossibility to communicate what she feels and what she wants – loses her only friend while discovering the excitements of sexuality, a real break in the boredom of the home and school aimless routine. A first feature about a girl who tries to escape the world imposed on her (home + school), a theme that recurs in Jessica Hausner’s following movies.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics —
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,0
IMDB 5,8 Average critics — Average public 5,9
Cast: Barbara Osika, Christoph Bauer, Peter Fiala
Director: Jessica Hausner
Writer: Jessica Hausner
Cinematography by Martin Gschlacht
Film Editing by Karin Hartusch
Great script, direction and gender content Excellent minority presence and message
This subversive coming of age story shows how impermeable to social norms a young girl can be.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,9
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,4
IMDB 6,7 Average critics 7,9 Average public 7,1
Cast: Noée Abita, Laure Calamy, Juan Cano
Director: Léa Mysius
Writers: Léa Mysius, Paul Guilhaume
Music by Florencia Di Concilio
Cinematography by Paul Guilhaume
Film Editing by Pierre Deschamps
Great script, dialogues and images Excellent minority presence
A good story over a girl whose parents are deaf and who always finds a way to preserve herself from any outside pressure that would force her to do or accept things that she doesn’t want. It first starts when she, as a child, has to translate the reprimanding remarks of her teachers to her deaf parents. Later, she refuses the help of her favorite aunt when she realizes that this aunt does not accept her musical taste. Realistically filmed, but it would have been better if Caroline Link had taken a real musician to play the lead character, and if she had allowed silent conversations on the screen (by using subtitles for the parts in sign language) instead of having them spoken by another personage.
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,4
Metascore —
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 7,4 Average critics 8,1 Average public 7,8
Original title: Jenseits der Stille
Cast: Sylvie Testud, Tatjana Trieb, Howie Seago, Emmanuelle Laborit, Sibylle Canonica
Directed by Caroline Link
Written by Caroline Link, Beth Serlin
Music by Niki Reiser
Cinematography by Gernot Roll
Film Editing by Patricia Rommel
Great dialogues, images, music, and message Excellent personages and direction Top gender content and minority presence
An 18-year old girl joins a colorful group of girls, and while she skates with them, she learns what friendship means. Cool because the movie shows “a younger generation [of women] that feels empowered to cross boundaries and to make their own world.” [Pat Brown]
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,3
Metascore 7,2
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,4
IMDB 6,8 Average critics 7,3 Average public 7,1
Good dialogues, music, and content (8) Excellent script, personages, direction, and images (9)
The story of the March sisters with sharpened edges, especially in relationship to women’s financial independence A ‘long’ feature (more than 2 hours) that allows a good buildup of strong relationships between the personages
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,6
Metascore 9,1
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,0
IMDB 8,2 Average critics 9,2 Average public 8,6
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, James Norton, Louis Garrel
Director: Greta Gerwig
Writer: Greta Gerwig, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott
Cinematographer: Yorick Le Saux
Editor: Nick Houy
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Good script, images and music (8) Excellent personages, dialogues, direction and content (9)
You may think it will be just another movie about a Muslim girl who is stuck between the traditions of her family and the Western mores in which she has grown up. But the script will surprise you… A movie that (once again) shows that men are the guardians of the traditions while women move ahead – quite understandably when you think that most religions and honor codes were developed by and are in the hands of men… I especially liked the focus on Hala: although she doesn’t say much, you are with her every step of the way A very good movie about integration
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,6
Metascore 7,5
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 5,7 Average critics 7,5 Average public 6,0
Cast: Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, Purbi Joshi, Hatta Azad Khan, Anna Chlumsky
Director: Minhal Baig
Writer: Minhal Baig
Director of Photography: Carolina Costa
Original Music Composer: Mandy Hoffman
A bunch of immatures (nothing to do with their age) struggles to fit into the “normal” world… A coming-of-age story, but in the end, you ask yourself: coming of age, what for?
Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,4
Metascore 6,0
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 6,3 Average critics 6,2 Average public 7,2
Cast: Kate McKinnon, Allison Tolman, Taylor Schilling
Director: Laura Steinel
Writer: Laura Steinel
Music by Jeremy Turner
Cinematography by Michael Simmonds
Film Editing by Glenn Garland
Good script, music – Excellent personages, dialogues Top direction, images
Beautifully filmed in the intimacy of nature / same dynamic camera as in her previous movie “Granik has a formidable talent for making points without appearing to, burying social riffs within a dense framework of texture, which is to say that formalism and performance often transcend politics. “Need or want?” Tom asks her father as she holds up a candy bar—and an entire relationship and way of life are conveyed in those few syllables. Will’s response is just as telling: “Both.” And he says that word with the pleasure of a father who’s unexpectedly indulging his daughter.” [Chuck Bowen]
Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie
Director: Debra Granik
Writer: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
based on the novel “My Abandonment” by Peter Rock
Cinematographer: Michael McDonough
Editor: Jane Rizzo
Composer: Dickon Hinchliffe
Good script, direction, images, dialogues (8) Excellent personages (9) Top score: minorities (10)
Surprising!
Cast: Brooke Adams, Ione Skye, Fairuza Balk
Director: Allison Anders
Writers: Richard Peck (novel), Allison Anders (screenplay)
Music by J. Mascis
Cinematography by Dean Lent
Film Editing by Tracy Granger
Good direction, images, music (8) Top score: personages, dialogues, gender (9)
“a hymn to teenage idealism and hormones” (Roger Ebert) The usual Lea Pool’s family situations – difficult but crucial mother-daughter relationships and absent fathers – play a role in the background
Cast: Piper Perabo, Jessica Pare, Jackie Burroughs
Directed by Lea Pool
Written by Judith Thompson
Music by Robyn Schulkowsky
Cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie
Film Editing by Michel Arcand
Coming of age? This movie puts it the other way around, as Summer, a 16-year-old girl, wants to fulfill her (contagious) desire to discover the world around her and experience religion (Islam), dance, sex, and everything that triggers her interest. After the necessary clashes, parents and peers eventually support her, understanding that the freedom that is paramount to her age cannot tolerate any compromise. Whose coming of age is it, thus?
Khalil Gibran’s poetic image – children are arrows that parents shoot and have then to follow – comes to mind. Young people show us the way! Today, this could be our new reality: think about Greta Grünberg and many others in Hong-Kong and elsewhere… I love it!
The songs are great, but the constant (and unnecessary) ‘atmosphere’ music deprives the movie of some of its sharpness Great acting by Zoe Renee: “Renee and Missick’s performances are so remarkable and the story is so compelling, I left the movie with a new feeling: hope that audiences watching this movie may be more empathetic towards others’ life changes.” [Monica Castillo]
Cast: Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dorian Missick, Hisham Tawfiq, Kelly Jenrette, Ashlei Foushee, Damien D. Smith, Maya Morales
Director: Nijla Mu’min
Writer: Nijla Mu’min
Cinematographer: Bruce Francis Cole
Editor: Collin Kriner
Composer: Jesi Nelson
Interesting story about an artist who has to break the scholastic chains that her totalitarian father has imposed on her to find herself in her art Chaotic direction, weak acting (except Bjorn Johnson) The excessive use of music and the mixing of too many different styles blurr the important meaning music could have for this movie
Cast: Rachel Ann, Bjorn Johnson, Laura Kirk
Director: Catherine Dudley-Rose
Writer: Catherine Dudley-Rose
Music by Danielle Howle
Cinematography by Kyle Krupinski
Film Editing by Patrick Lawrence
Original look at a young girl who reaches puberty and discovers that sex is everywhere A movie that shows a mother’s incapicity to communicate with her daughter and her boyfriend
Unclear frontier between gender and an animalistic approach to sex A movie that very wrongly normalizes rape and child abuse!
Cast: Shira Haas, Keren Mor, Ori Pfeffer
Director: Tali Shalom-Ezer
Writer: Tali Shalom-Ezer
Music by Ishai Adar
Cinematography by Radek Ladczuk
Film Editing by Neta Dvorkis
Although not always realistic, this subversive coming of age story shows how impermeable to social norms a young girl can be.
Cast: Noée Abita, Laure Calamy, Juan Cano
Director: Léa Mysius
Writers: Léa Mysius, Paul Guilhaume
Music by Florencia Di Concilio
Cinematography by Paul Guilhaume
Film Editing by Pierre Deschamps
Unpretentious, great acting, a dizzying but expressive camera work Riveting!
Cast: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Nele Trebs, Ursina Lardi, Andre Frid
Director: Cate Shortland
Screenplay by Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjee
Music by Max Richter
Cinematography by Adam Arkapaw
Film Editing by Veronika Jenet
As in Lea Pool’s later movies, the relationship mother-daughter is a central theme, shown as a key element to the development of the child, while the fatherly figure is depicted as a loser and a source of conflict / Excellent acting
Cast: Karine Vanasse, Alexandre Merineau, Pascale Bussieres, Miki Manojlovic, Charlotte Christeler, Nancy Huston
Written and Directed by Lea Pool
Music by Robyn Schulkowsky
Cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie
Film Editing by Michel Arcand
Beside the deliciously subtle coming of age story, we get a good glimpse of the French society in the beginning of the 60’s. The first cracks that will lead to the 1968 revolution are already showing.
Cast: Eléonore Klarwein, Odile Michel, Anouk Ferjac
Director: Diane Kurys
Writers: Diane Kurys, Alain Le Henry
Music by Yves Simon
Cinematography by Philippe Rousselot
Film Editing by Joële Van Effenterre
Beautifully filmed in the intimacy of nature / same dynamic camera as in her previous movie “Granik has a formidable talent for making points without appearing to, burying social riffs within a dense framework of texture, which is to say that formalism and performance often transcend politics. “Need or want?” Tom asks her father as she holds up a candy bar—and an entire relationship and way of life are conveyed in those few syllables. Will’s response is just as telling: “Both.” And he says that word with the pleasure of a father who’s unexpectedly indulging his daughter.” [Chuck Bowen]
Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie
Director: Debra Granik
Writer: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
based on the novel “My Abandonment” by Peter Rock
Cinematographer: Michael McDonough
Editor: Jane Rizzo
Composer: Dickon Hinchliffe
Good dialogues and good music, but the cast finds it difficult to free itself from the straight-jacket script
Cast: Griffin Dunne, Dan Futterman, Patricia Kalember, David Strathairn, Adrienne Shelly
Director: Joan Micklin Silver
Writers: Frank Mugavero, Mark Goddard, Melissa Goddard
Music by Patrick Williams
Cinematography by Theo van de Sande
Film Editing by Janice Hampton
A crumbling and dirty Italy with ordinary people and abandoned villages. And in the middle of all the misery, the church that indoctrinates, that brainwashes, that abuses, that promises a magic and miraculous world to people who live a cruel and ugly reality. A biting attack against the church, its power, its decorum, its lies. A promising debut!
Cast: Yle Vianello, Salvatore Cantalupo, Pasqualina Scuncia
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Writer: Alice Rohrwacher
Cinematography by Hélène Louvart
Film Editing by Marco Spoletini
Beside the deliciously subtle coming of age story, we get a good glimpse of the French society in the beginning of the 60’s. The first cracks that will lead to the 1968 revolution are already showing.
Cast: Eléonore Klarwein, Odile Michel, Anouk Ferjac
Director: Diane Kurys
Writers: Diane Kurys, Alain Le Henry
Music by Yves Simon
Cinematography by Philippe Rousselot
Film Editing by Joële Van Effenterre
The good acting compensates the stifling direction
Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield, Lindsay Burdge
Director: Hannah Fidell
Writer: Hannah Fidell
Music by Julian Wass
Cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo
Film Editing by Carlos Marques-Marcet, Sofi Marshall
A 12 year-old girl who lives with her depressive self-centered single mother wants to know who her father is and finds out that he’s even more irresponsible than her mother. What it means to grow up (and why would someone ever want to do that :)) Good direction and acting!
Cast: Linnea Skog, Paula Vesala, Lauri Maijala
Director: Selma Vilhunen
Writers: Selma Vilhunen
Music by Jori Sjöroos, Paula Vesala
Cinematography by Tuomo Hutri
Film Editing by Samu Heikkilä
A teenager girl – who does everything ‘wrong’ because of her impossibility to communicate what she feels and what she wants – loses her only friend while discovering the excitements of sexuality, a real break in the boredom of the home and school aimless routine. This first feature is about a girl who tries to escape the world imposed on her (home + school), a theme that recurs in Jessica Hausner’s following movies.
Cast: Barbara Osika, Christoph Bauer, Peter Fiala
Director: Jessica Hausner
Writer: Jessica Hausner
Cinematography by Martin Gschlacht
Film Editing by Karin Hartusch
An 18-year old girl joins a colorful group of girls, and while she skates with them, she learns what friendship means. Cool because the movie shows “a younger generation [of women] that feels empowered to cross boundaries and to make their own world.” [Pat Brown]
Cast: Lily Newmark, Joanna Scanlan, Loris Scarpa
Director: Deborah Haywood
Writer: Deborah Haywood
Music by Natalie Holt
Cinematography by Nicola Daley
Film Editing by Anna Dick, Nick Emerson
Beautifully filmed in the intimacy of nature / same dynamic camera as in her previous movie “Granik has a formidable talent for making points without appearing to, burying social riffs within a dense framework of texture, which is to say that formalism and performance often transcend politics. “Need or want?” Tom asks her father as she holds up a candy bar—and an entire relationship and way of life are conveyed in those few syllables. Will’s response is just as telling: “Both.” And he says that word with the pleasure of a father who’s unexpectedly indulging his daughter.” [Chuck Bowen]
Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie
Director: Debra Granik
Writer: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
based on the novel “My Abandonment” by Peter Rock
Cinematographer: Michael McDonough
Editor: Jane Rizzo
Composer: Dickon Hinchliffe
A coming of age story in which a 13 year-old girl feels responsible for the people she cares for
Great acting by Sophia Mitri Schloss, her presence captivates
Cast: Sophia Mitri Schloss, Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher Jr., Danielle Brooks, Tony Hale
Director: Megan Griffiths
Writer: Megan Griffiths
Cinematographer: T.J. Williams Jr.
Editor: Celia Beasley
Composer: Mike McCready
Beautifully filmed in the intimacy of nature / same dynamic camera as in her previous movie “Granik has a formidable talent for making points without appearing to, burying social riffs within a dense framework of texture, which is to say that formalism and performance often transcend politics. “Need or want?” Tom asks her father as she holds up a candy bar—and an entire relationship and way of life are conveyed in those few syllables. Will’s response is just as telling: “Both.” And he says that word with the pleasure of a father who’s unexpectedly indulging his daughter.” [Chuck Bowen]
Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie
Director: Debra Granik
Writer: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
based on the novel “My Abandonment” by Peter Rock
Cinematographer: Michael McDonough
Editor: Jane Rizzo
Composer: Dickon Hinchliffe
“a hymn to teenage idealism and hormones” (Roger Ebert) The usual Lea Pool’s family situations – difficult but crucial mother-daughter relationships and absent fathers – play a role in the background
Cast: Piper Perabo, Jessica Pare, Jackie Burroughs
Directed by Lea Pool
Written by Judith Thompson
Music by Robyn Schulkowsky
Cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie
Film Editing by Michel Arcand
As in Lea Pool’s later movies, the relationship mother-daughter is a central theme, shown as a key element to the development of the child, while the fatherly figure is depicted as a loser and a source of conflict / Excellent acting
Cast: Karine Vanasse, Alexandre Merineau, Pascale Bussieres, Miki Manojlovic, Charlotte Christeler, Nancy Huston
Written and Directed by Lea Pool
Music by Robyn Schulkowsky
Cinematography by Jeanne Lapoirie
Film Editing by Michel Arcand
Unpretentious, great acting, a dizzying but expressive camera work Riveting!
Cast: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Nele Trebs, Ursina Lardi, Andre Frid
Director: Cate Shortland
Screenplay by Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjee
Music by Max Richter
Cinematography by Adam Arkapaw
Film Editing by Veronika Jenet
Cast: Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Lynette Curran
Director: Cate Shortland
Writer: Cate Shortland
Music by Decoder Ring
Cinematography by Robert Humphreys
Film Editing by Scott Gray
An intelligent take on ‘a young woman in search of her identity’ / enjoyable, witty, deep, sensitive… / First feature
Cast: Zoe Kazan, Jake M. Johnson, Ron Livingston, Danny Pudi, Sterling Beaumon, Jeremy Howard
Director: Jenée LaMarque
Writer: Jenée LaMarque
Director of Photography: Polly Morgan
Editor: Kiran Pallegadda
The 60’s, the American dream. A woman discovers that her husband betrays her with a man. She is so humiliated and wounded that she leaves her family. Her three children express their resentment, loss, pain, feeling of guilt, and incomprehension in very different ways. A beautiful and poignant movie!
Cast: Marianne Fortier, Élie Dupuis, Hugo St-Onge-Paquin
Director: Léa Pool
Writer: Isabelle Hébert
Music by Laurent Eyquem
Cinematography by Daniel Jobin
Film Editing by Dominique Fortin
Two long-time best friends come into adulthood in very different ways / a coming of age story that avoids stereotypes / good direction, script, personages, and dialogues
Cast: Leighton Meester, Gillian Jacobs, Adam Brody, Gabourey Sidibe, Beth Dover, Abby Elliott, Mark Feuerstein, Kate McKinnon, Greer Grammer
Director: Susanna Fogel
Writer: Joni Lefkowitz, Susanna Fogel
Director of Photography: Brian Burgoyne
Cast: Brooke Adams, Ione Skye, Fairuza Balk
Director: Allison Anders
Writers: Richard Peck (novel), Allison Anders (screenplay)
Music by J. Mascis
Cinematography by Dean Lent
Film Editing by Tracy Granger
Cast: Abbey Hoes, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Gijs Blom
Director: Saskia Diesing
Writers: Saskia Diesing, Esther Gerritsen
Music by Paul Eisenach
Cinematography by Aage Hollander
Film Editing by Barbara Toennieshen
Some good moments, but at times clumsy script and direction / Jenny Slate sounds often fake, and the dialogues do not fit the period.
Cast: Jenny Slate, Edie Falco, Abby Quinn, Jay Duplass, John Turturro, Finn Wittrock, Amy Carlson
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Writer (story): Elisabeth Holm, Gillian Robespierre, Tom Bean
Writer: Gillian Robespierre, Elisabeth Holm
Cinematographer: Chris Teague
Editor: Casey Brooks
Composer: Chris Bordeaux, Jordan Cohen, Clyde Lawrence
The pathetic days of a young woman in search of love and affection who is rejected by everyone / difficult to get emotionally involved in the lead personage The director, her mother and her sister are playing their respective roles.
Cast: Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, Alex Karpovsky, Jemima Kirke, Rachel Howe, David Call
Written and directed by Lena Dunham
Music by Teddy Blanks
Cinematography by Jody Lee Lipes
Film Editing by Lance Edmands
Cast: Jesse Cordasco, Andrew McCord, Gina Piersanti, Case Prime, Nick Rosen
Director: Eliza Hittman
Writer: Eliza Hittman
Cinematography by Sean Porter
Film Editing by Scott Cummings, Carlos Marques-Marcet
Nuanced approach of all the things on which the life of a teenage girl is built / Excellent acting, great editing! However, a too “uniquely American” comedy, as Christopher Gray puts it.
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein
Director: Greta Gerwig
Writer: Greta Gerwig
Cinematographer: Sam Levy
Editor: Nick Houy
Composer: Jon Brion
Some good moments, clumsy (first feature) direction
Actors: Kevin Bacon, Sarah Grey, Jon Tenney
Director: Kyra Sedgwick
Writers: Laurie Collyer, Emily Bickford Lansbury
Music by Travis Bacon
Cinematography by Alar Kivilo
Film Editing by Sabine Hoffman
Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Holly Hunter, Nikki Reed, Jeremy Sisto, Brady Corbet
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Written by Hardwicke, Nikki Reed
Music by Mark Mothersbaugh, Brian Zarate
Cinematography by Elliot Davis
Film Editing by Nancy Richardson
Interesting representation of teenagers rejecting the crooked ways of the significant adults around them.
NOTICED (SPOILER): One mother betrays her husband. Another one destroys evidence to protect hers. In the end, it leaves two children betrayed by their mothers.
The musical score is too omnipresent.
Cast: Hugo Weaving, Toni Collette, Angourie Rice
Director: Rachel Perkins
Writers: Shaun Grant, Craig Silvey (story)
Music by Antony Partos
Cinematography by Mark Wareham
Film Editing by Veronika Jenet
Weak story, images and personages that are too ‘polished’, music unconnected to the story
Cast: Amandla Stenberg, Nick Robinson, Anika Noni Rose, Ana de la Reguera
Director: Stella Meghie
Writer: J. Mills Goodloe, based on the book by Nicola Yoon
Cinematographer: Igor Jadue-Lillo
Editor: Nancy Richardson
Composer: Ludwig Göransson
The beginning is full of humor, suspense and provocation, but leads nowhere. Weak scenario.
Actors: Hunter Bussemaker, Franck Sasonoff, Andrew Howard
Director: Paula van der Oest
Writer: Carel Donck
Music by Fons Merkies
Cinematography by Guido van Gennep
Film Editing by Sander Vos
A 14-year old girl tries to deal with the conflict created by her nascent sexual desire and her faith. The significant others in her life are clearly divided into two groups. The non-believers are all male (father, grandpa, boyfriend) and all clearly express their desires. The believers on the other hand (the mother, the girl, and the priest) all have to repress their desires in order to comply with the dogma imposed by their religion. Incongruous music
Actors: Clara Augarde, Lio, Michel Galabru
Director: Katell Quillévéré
Writers: Mariette Désert (collaboration), Katell Quillévéré
Music: Olivier Mellano
Cinematography: Tom Harari
Editing: Thomas Marchand
A mysterious and fascinating movie, though at times the tension falls away
Cast: Royalty Hightower, Alexis Neblett, Makyla Burnam, Da’Sean Minor, Inayah Rodgers, Antonio A.B. Grant Jr., Lauren Gibson
Director: Anna Rose Holmer
Writer: Saela Davis, Anna Rose Holmer, Lisa Kjerulff
Cinematographer: Paul Yee
Editor: Saela Davis
Composer: Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
“Rape and repressions are the two sides of the same coin. When you rape a girl, the problem is not that you’re taking away her purity, which gets everyone all up in arms. It’s that you’re taking away her wholeness. Trying to keep her pure, repressing her sexuality also takes her wholeness. I don’t want my daughter to grow up pure. I want her to grow whole.” says Anja in Split. The idea of sexual violence taking a woman’s or a girl’s wholeness is the leading theme in Deborah Kampmeier’s three movies (Split, Virgin, and Hounddog).
Cast: Dakota Fanning, David Morse, Piper Laurie, Afemo Omilami, Robin Wright Penn, Cody Hanford, Jill Scott
Written and directed by Deborah Kampmeier
Music: Gisburg
Cinematography: Jim Denault
Photography: Edward Lachman
Editing: Sabine Hoffman
Good personages, humor, images, music, and gender content
Good script, direction and minority presence
Good story and music
Good script, direction, gender content and message
Good minority presence
MdW - Movies directed by Women 