Cuties, why is it the most controversial Netflix Movie?
Cuties is a story of Amy (Fathia Youssouf), an 11-year-old girl from a recently immigrated devout Muslim family from Senegal to Paris. As Amy lives with a mother and two younger brothers in a new neighborhood, she finds a very intriguing neighbor-girl, Angelica (Médina El Aidi-Azouni) dancing in the laundry room. In her introductory scene, Angelica can be seen from the back, dancing to music in skintight pants and a belly-baring shirt. By her dance moves, she seems like an older girl, however, Amy finds out that she is just another girl of her age.
This scene will surely put you off if you have been reading a lot about the controversy surrounding the movie. There is more to that controversy in this Maïma Doucouré’s debut as writer and director which depicts the power, the danger, and the limitations of a child’s perceptive toward life.
Amy starts going to school and that’s where she sees Angelica again with her friends who call themselves – the Cuties. The cuties come across to her as a very cool and sophisticated to the sheltered Amy and she starts looking at the group as her way out from conservative family while going through the heartbreaking toll of a patriarchal order of her Muslim family
Later, she finds the same group while walking home with her two younger brothers dancing under the old railroad. She immediately gets attracted to the captivating glimpse of freedom there four girls of her age who have been rehearsing a routine for an upcoming dance competition. Going through the turmoil of here her religious community and being on the cusp of adolescence, Amy starts developing strong feelings towards uncanny attraction brought by Cuties while being held as a part of higher standard decency act around her family.
Amy starts doing things around the school which she shouldn’t have, goes into a slippery slope of her emotional dilemma and you will see a lot of moments silliness and ugliness while practicing with the girls. This dilemma fills Amy a lot of mixed feelings which she doesn’t quite understand and ends up wearing skimpy clothes, doing dance practice, and boy-crazy schemes.
There are many scenes in the movie which will give you very disturbing and head-spinning thoughts. There is a certain innocence in the group’s antics, emphasized by the bright, poppy colors used to prompt elements of girls’ love.
Most of the controversy surrounding the movie is about 11 years old girls fighting with dangerous aspects covering adult sexuality which they surely aren’t aware of but rather more curious about it. They do everything to make it more controversial starting from gyrating to explicit music, send vulgar messages to talking about boobs, condoms, and body shaming.
One of the darkest yet simple scenes of the movie is when Amy starts undressing for her older cousin who tries to get his stolen phone back from Amy. The scene further gets worse when Amy locks her into the bathroom and she posts a very objectionable picture online. Constant attention-seeking behavior makes Amy do a lot of controversial things.
However, the most controversial part of the movie is when these 11-year-old takes a stage for the competition final with a routine that would somethings strippers would do. Girls dancing dressed in sparkly short-shorts and crop tops, they start humping the floor, grab their crotches, lick their lips, and throw their heads back in a naive simulation of sex. This surely brings the visible discomfort of their audience but I am sure it will do the same for you while watching the movie.
The movie surely has been the controversy of the years but if you look at it the other way it gives out a message to all parents out there about how they need to handle their Kids. The movie is upsetting to watch but really show what the reality is around the globe.