Netflix’s Film “Cuties” Was Outrageously Shocking to Watch, But It Also Highlights an Important Issue

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By Nikki Slusher

Earlier this month Netflix released “Cuties”, a French foreign film, which has caused the company to receive major backlash over the past few weeks. Not only have subscribers threatened cancellations over the movies release on its streaming services, but Netflix also had to switch the film’s poster due to controversy on its sexual exploitation of young girls. The film itself has also been boycotted by viewers, even ending up for debate in D.C. where politicians, including Senators Ted Cruz (TX-R) and Tom Cotton (R-AR), have asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the filmmakers and Netflix. U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) also joined the debate, echoing Sen. Cruz and dubbing it “child porn.” Additionally, groups like the Parents Television Council, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Yet most people who have spoken out against the film, like Sen. Ted Cruz, have not seen the film.

“Cuties” premiered earlier this year at the Sundance film festival where it initially received rave reviews. The film’s director, Maïmouna Doucouré, won the Dramatic Directing Award in the foreign film category and ranking at 85% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. It was not until Netflix released its marketing for the film – specifically a new poster created by the streaming service – that anger over the film began to erupt. Netflix provided an apology stating they were “deeply sorry for inappropriate artwork” and that they would be editing the film’s presentation on the streaming service. The company also issued an apology to the film’s director, who had learned about the poster when the rest of the public did.

Doucouré has since received death threats online as a result, even though her vision for the purpose of the storyline was not reflected in the artwork. The motion picture was supposed to address the issue of hyper-sexualization of girls and women that is encouraged on social media to take on these identities. It is based on her own personal experiences as well as interviews she held with young girls, not to promote these themes. As for Netflix, the weekend it premiered the film it saw a cancellation rate eight times higher than usual following “#CancelNetflix” trending on social media platforms. Cancellations at this rate only lasted for a brief period. According to research firm 7Park Data, the overall impact upon the streaming service’s subscriber base has not been material.

Why are there such strong reactions against the film? The French movie is about the hyper-sexualization of young girls in today’s society. Amy, the film’s central focus, is an 11-year-old Muslim Senegalese girl who befriends a group of girls and joins their dance team regardless of her background. Following the group of girls, the film depicts the different mischievous acts of the group; it ends with them twerking and smizing to an offensively adult-sexualized routine near the film’s end. Throughout the final dance performance, the audience is shocked and disgusted with some complaining to the judges.

Amy has just learned that women are second class citizens. Her mother is distraught over her father’s decision to marry a second wife in Senegal and wants to bring her back to France to live in the family’s tiny flat. At religious meetings, Amy and all of the other women are told they must obey their husbands. A community elder called “auntie” fiercely enforces this precept. Feeling lonely and oppressed, Amy becomes captivated by a group of popular girls at school. Eventually she befriends them, joining in on their outrageous antics.

Many times, the film also pre-empts the language being used in most of the debates. A teacher tells the girls to stop dressing inappropriately and the girls protest, raising a cry for “Freedom!” while being hauled off. In another scene, a security guard tries removing the girls from a laser-tag hall they sneaked into. The girl’s shout: “Stop groping me, you child molester!” when he won’t let them back in the establishment. Towards the end of the film during the dance competition performance Amy stops mid-routine, freezing in her spot and begins to cry. The film’s ending brings us to an Amy who has gone back to her pre-dance team clothes but has found happiness in simple things like jump roping, rather than twerking in front of an audience, like a child does.

I won’t lie, most of the scenes are uber cringeworthy and awkward to watch. At times, my jaw was on the floor and my eyes almost popped out of my head. A few moments stick out profusely in my mind: the girls grinding on each other in front of the security guard, Amy taking nude pictures with a stolen cellphone, and multiple dance scenes of adult routines performed by the group. There were also a few times where the camera had odd angles and closeups.

But “Cuties” does highlight a sensitive topic that needs to be discussed. Those who are enraged by the film should be, and we need to be about these issues happening in real life too. While I do not think I can ever sit through this film again it was definitely not as awful as I had originally thought. Doucouré’s vision is clearly displayed overall. A different way of presenting certain themes and minus the Netflix poster scandal, then maybe it would have possibly been received better by the public.

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