Netflix Unknowns: Girlhood (2015)

Uncover the hidden gems of Netflix with arts reporter Noelle Lilley each week as she taps into this treasure-trove of undiscovered potential you won't want to miss.

Welcome to the second week of Netflix Unknowns! This time, I'm covering a 2015 French coming-of-age drama, "Girlhood" (french: Bande de filles) directed by Céline Sciamma. The movie title was translated into English as "girlhood" but "gang of girls" or even "hood of girls" is much more appropriate.

I came across this film when a friend of a friend told me that I looked like the lead actress, Karidja Touré. I didn't see any resemblance but eventually decided to watch the movie after I was told of our likeness again a few weeks later.

Let me be clear — if you don't like foreign films then you probably won't like "Girlhood". It's spoken entirely in French, but I'm one of those rare people who love subtitles so it didn't bother me. However, I still recommend at least giving it a shot as the film received critical acclaim and even has a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes which is a difficult feat in itself.

"Girlhood" tells the story of teenage Marieme living in a rough neighborhood outside of Paris. With an abusive home life, a dangerously male dominated community and a dead-end outlook on the future, she finds solace in joining a girl gang. Inspired by her new group of cool, street-smart friends, she changes her name, style and drops out of school. Things are going well at first with Marieme discovering newfound confidence, respect and love. However, things quickly spiral out of control and she must finally take her future into her own hands.

Plot: 5/5

This plot is like nothing I've ever seen before, and that's saying something. Coming-of-age films are kind of my thing. I've never been in a gang, but the storyline was still totally relatable. Like every teenager, Marieme wants to be accepted, to have friends and to make the boy she likes notice her. I felt for Marieme. I sympathized with her when she failed, I cheered her on when she succeeded. I could understand the helplessness she felt and why she made some of the choices she did, despite the bleeding red flags that came along with her decisions. Maybe it was because it took place in another country, maybe it was because it featured an almost entire cast of color, but this film was unique and it's storyline stuck with me days after I finished it.

Cinematography: 3/5

So, I'm not necessarily ready to move to Paris. Some of the scenes in this movie felt almost too pretty, too clear, too delicate for a hard-to-swallow plot of "Girlhood." However, it manages to balance out gorgeous scenery with grainy violence as the plot move along. Lots of blues, if you're into that sort of thing.

Acting: 5/5

One thing I loved about this film was that I didn't recognize a single actor. It made the acting that much more real and gritty. The film's director even said in an interview with The Independent that she specifically sought out making a film that gave representation to those rarely seen by casting unknown black girls as characters. With a film like this, you need honesty and each actor greatly contributes to that overall goal. Karidja Touré shines in this film, as she should. She is the star, the center and the sun of which the entire film orbits. I truly hope to see her in more roles in the future. Idrissa Diabaté, who plays Marieme's love interest, Ismaël, does a wonderful job as well. I felt like I knew them. I felt like I could see one of these characters walking down the street, strike up a conversation and befriend them.

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Direction: 5/5

This movie felt so real. As I was watching, I had to pause occasionally to remind myself that it was just a movie. An interesting factor that I noticed was how utterly absent the adults were in the film. We only see Marieme's mother twice and there's a lengthy scene with her guidance counselor, whom we don't see at all. This reminded me of the reoccurring joke on "Peanuts" where the adults speak in monotone "wah, wah, wahs" and are essentially nonexistent in the day-to-day life of the kids. While it didn't have the same effect of humor in "Girlhood," it served the same purpose. For Marieme and her friends, adults are incompetent at best and toxic at worst. They mean well, but they're too wrapped up in their own problems to understand or help the very kids they should be raising. Anyone who has a vivid recollection of their teenage years can relate to that adolescent feeling of time stopping, the clock ticking, knowing you're young and have your whole life ahead of you. Director, Céline Sciamma, portrays this perfectly with slo-mo dance scenes and fluorescent, gauzy first kisses scenes. Yet Sciamma doesn't let the audience get so close that we ignore the mistakes Marieme is making and is moving too fast to notice.