Netflix released its film Cuties on Wednesday, but fans and opponents of the movie have gathered two opposing messages from it.
Some said the film condemns the hypersexualization of children, while others said the film is permissive of it.
The French Netflix film tells the story of a young girl around the age of 11 joining a dance troop and exploring her sexuality after being raised in a more conservative background. Several scenes in the film show girls grinding on the floor and biting their fingers in a suggestive manner. Numerous shots in the film focus on the girls’ crotches and bottoms. In one scene, a girl has her pants pulled down in a fight, and her underwear is exposed for several seconds while people around take pictures.
The main character takes a picture of her crotch completely exposed and posts it on the internet. Her exposed crotch is not shown on camera, however, and the girl is condemned by her friends for posting it. Eventually, the protagonist returns to her family in what appears to be remorse for her behavior.
Rolling Stone critic David Fear wrote, “Here’s what Cuties, the debut feature from French-Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré, is: the story of an 11-year-old named Amy (Fathia Youssouf) who’s stuck watching her family fall apart and is trying to find a place for herself in the world. Here’s what it is not: a salacious bit of pedo-bait designed to appeal to baser instincts rather than better angels.”
Monica Castillo wrote that opponents to the film are “accusing the movie of what it condemns.”
The director of the movie said she was inspired to create it after watching 11-year-olds copy dance moves from video clips they saw online.
“I was surprised because of their age,” she said in Netflix press material. “I met with hundreds of preteens who told me their stories. I needed to know how they felt about their own femininity in today’s society and how they dealt with their self-image at a time when social media is so important.”
In August, Netflix was criticized for its first poster promoting the film, which depicted the girls in uniforms that exposed their stomachs. Netflix removed the artwork and apologized for it on Twitter.
Justin Chang wrote for the Los Angeles Times, “Weeks ago, Netflix released a promotional image that sexualized the story’s young protagonists in a way that the movie itself scrupulously avoids doing.”
Some say, however, that the film itself was much worse than the poster. John Durant, author of The Paleo Manifesto, wrote on Twitter, “I already cancelled my subscription to @netflix for promoting softcore pedophilia (Cuties). The actual footage is even more disturbing than the promo poster and trailer.”
The hashtag #CancelNetflix has been trending on the platform, as other users called for people to delete their subscriptions to the streaming service.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 90% critics rating but a 5% audience score. IMDB’s parental guide for the film labels it “severe” under the category of “sex and nudity.” Netflix has rated the film TV-MA, but it has not attached a content warning to it.
