Movie opens with 11yr old Amy, a Senegalese Muslim, helping her mom & little brother get moved in to their new apartment in Paris, as the siblings fight over a larger room. Neither child is allowed to have the larger room— it is reserved for some mysterious reason. Amy is annoyed about sharing a room w/her little brother, understandably.
Cut scene to Amy sitting in her hijab with other women, listening to them discuss how important piety & modesty is important to their religion (establishing her conservative family background).
Amy & her mom run into Amy’s (older, likely more conservative/devout) aunt, who is happy to hear they’ve moved in to their new place. She emphasizes the importance of good behavior to Amy.
As Amy returns to the apt, she passes the laundry room & spots a girl her age dancing (not provocatively) in skinny jeans & a crop top to music. Amy is fascinated, & watches silently from the doorway. After ironing her hair (wtf with a clothes iron?!) the girl notices she’s being watched, & Amy runs off to her apartment.
Amy wakes up & sees her mom lock the mysteriously vacant bedroom door before retiring to her own bed. Her mom is preoccupied & doesn’t notice Amy up, again simply standing in a doorway.
Cut scene to the next morning, where Amy’s getting ready for school. She attempts to iron her hair like the laundry room girl did, & burns a bit off. Kids are always drawn to what is different, what is wild. They emulate one another. They crave acceptance. She seems pretty lonely.
Cut scene to her first morning at school, where a staff member is telling her what teachers she’ll have. Amy’s attention is diverted to the laundry room girl op& her friends, who are all dressed in minor skirts & crop tops. They appear to lead a flash mob where everyone on the school grounds stops & freezes in place. This angers the staff member, who drags the group of girls off to the office, scolding them for their behavior & attire, as one girl argues something in the distance about freedom of expression.
One can assume these girls have limited adult supervision if they were able to leave home in such skimpy attire. Amy also has limited adult supervision, which becomes a running theme/problem throughout the movie. Amy appears attracted to this group & their seemingly happy-go-lucky bond, & mischief.
Cut scene to Amy being home with her mom, wondering when her dad will be back home. He is abroad, apparently.
Cut scene to Amy practicing simple dance moves (not sexual) in her mom’s room, with what looks like one of her mom’s T-shirts tied into a crop top. She quickly darts under the bed when she hears her mom coming down the hall, talking to someone. She walks in, on the phone, with amy’s aunt following behind. We hear Amy’s mom tell whoever is on the phone the ‘good’ news that her husband (Amy’s dad) has married another woman, which in their culture it is acceptable for a man to take multiple wives. He’s coming back from Senegal (assuming their native country?) with his new wife. Amy’s mom is clearly forcing a happy tone. She ends the call & the aunt immediately tells her to call someone else next to spread the good news. Amy’s mom is reluctant, & the aunt says, “Be a real woman. That’s all I’m asking. Don’t let people criticize youâ€
We hear here how this woman defines womanhood, and the child Amy hears this definition, and encounters many others throughout the film. Defining what it means to be a woman— let alone whether or not you are one, or when— is yet another running theme in the film.
The aunt shuffles out of the room, leaving Amy’s mom to make another phone call, which she makes, as she sits on the edge of her bed, her ankles framing Amy’s face below. Her voice breaks at the end of the call, & she blames it on a bad phone connection. She finishes the call on a positive note, & sobs to herself. Amy tears up, silently crying with her, likely wondering what all of this means, clearly upset that her mom is in pain.
Cut scene to Amy shopping for food with her little brother & infant brother (I didn’t notice the infant earlier). Amy spots the group of girls fooling around in the supermarket, getting yelled at to leave for messing around. She follows them to an overpass where she looks down at them over a fence, watching the girls do choreographed dancing in their crop tops (like Britney Spears, maybe?). They appear to be good at dancing. I see nothing overtly sexual in their dancing— no twerking, etc. The girls notice her, get mad, & throw a rock at her.
She gets home & we see her wearing her toddler brother’s T-shirt as a crop top. Despite the girls’ cruelty, she craves their bond and acceptance. The girls emulate older girls, & Amy wants to emulate her peers.
Amy is later seen (with a bruise on her head from the rock) helping her cousin Samba unload a van (maybe some more of their moving-in stuff?), & he asks her to get something from up front. She sees his unattended smartphone just laying there, & snatches it up without anyone noticing. It’s just that easy for a kid to get a device to access the internet freely. Creepy.
Cut scene to Amy opening a package— it’s a long, ornate gown to celebrate her father’s 2nd marriage. Her mom pretends the occasion is wonderful, tugging at the dress, muttering to herself about how well it will fit, how pretty it will be. She’s clearly masking stress. Amy is silent, uncomfortable.
Cut scene to Amy at the schoolyard the next day, scanning the area for the group of girls. They approach her & aggressively ask her about spying on them the day, prior. They do the typical mean-girl thing & pick on her. They laugh at the bruise. Amy asks what they were doing. They explain they were rehearsing for a dance contest. They tease her for not knowing how to dance. Or dress. They knock her books out of her hands. The laundry room girl shows up & stops the others from taunting her further, & they part ways.
After school, Amy is back at the apartment building, & hears yelling outside her unit in the hall. The laundry room girl runs upstairs, grabs Amy, & they run into Amy’s apartment. The girl’s name is Angelica, & her brother is chasing her because she swiped his laundry— he wouldn’t give her the change she spent washing them for him, so she kept his clothes. The girls hole up in Amy’s apartment til he storms off (typical dumb kid stuff).
After her bro storms off, Angelica looks at Amy’s forehead bruise/cut with concern. She asks if Amy disinfected it, to which Amy says no. Angelica takes out some of the powdered laundry detergent, wets some with her spit, & puts it on Amy’s forehead before she leaves. Anointed friend. This is one example of many showing how no adults noticed Amy’s problems, & how little the children know how to properly take care of themselves, despite having good intentions. There don’t seem to be any later issues with the cut itself, but still... you don’t use laundry powder on a cut. Yowtch.
Amy is pleased with this, & Angelic heads back to her unit.
Later, Amy is on the phone she stole from her cousin, scrolling through the girls’ social media pages (holy shit why do all these 11yr olds have access to this stuff?!). Tame photos, some take duckface selfies. Amy attempts to emulate again, naturally, & takes some selfies of her own with duckface. She sees the beautifying photo filter & applies it, which makes her look older & doll-like with poreless skin (more fucked up messages to young girls about beauty). She gets some Likes for the ‘pretty’ selfie, & is happy. She glances into the closet at the wedding reception dress she obviously wants nothing to do with, & shuts the closet door/trying not to think about it.
Next day, Amy’s sitting in a school bathroom stall, eavesdropping on the girl group watching porn on one of their cell phones, clearly not understanding how sex works, like, at all. Giggling and commenting.
“That’s nature. This is how babies are made.â€
“Gross.â€
“She’s making a weird face.â€
“That means it’s a rape.â€
“A rape?†(One doesn’t even know wtf that is)
No one responds to that question.
“I hear it can go through your whole body. The boy gets inside you. If it’s a rape, it can come out of your mouth.â€
“No way! It’s not long enough to reach your mouth.â€
They keep Ewwwing & wowing, as Amy exits the stall & looks at them as she washes her hands.
The girls notice Amy has a phone & pressure her to follow a passing boy to the boys bathroom & try to record a video of him urinating. She gets nervous & only manages to record his shoes as he’s chasing her out. (Peer pressure, again, & natural curiosity at that age).
Angelica & Amy review the video at home & realize she messed up recording, as Amy’s little brother comes in the kitchen to bug them for attention. Amy takes him & locks him in the bathroom, saying to Angelica, he’s used to it. (Hooray for no supervision)
Amy & Angelica venture into the mysterious vacant room, which is decadent with a large bed with silky blankets. It is obviously the new marital bed. The girls do what little girls do— have a pillowfight, jump on the bed, & eat gummibears, giggling away, totally ignorant about the bed’s intended purpose (consummating the upcoming marriage).
At one point, they watch videos on Amy’s stolen phone (which, Angelica is impressed to hear that the phone was stolen, & Amy craves the praise). One video is of older girls dancing. They will likely be at the competition. They do some proactive moves on video, & one girl either accidentally or purposely flashes a breast for half a second. (She is of legal age btw). Angelica aspires to be better than them. Whatever that means.
Water rushes in under the door. Amy runs to the bathroom, where the water’s coming from. Her little brother overfilled the tub to make a pool (danger/no adult supervision).
Cut scene to another day where Amy and Angelica meet the other girls in the rehearsal spot. Amy is wearing her bro’s shirt as a crop top, which one of th girls compliments. Angelica vouches for Amy, saying she’s gonna make a video of them on her phone. The girls start dancing. It’s all fairly G-rated dance moves. They’re good at it. They cheer one another on. None are dressed appropriately again, which further speaks to lack of adult intervention for any of them. Their dance group is called Cuties.
The girls tease Amy for having a flat butt during their practice (though none of them have any mature figures either).
Amy goes home & practices their dance moves from the recording on her phone, alone in her room. She sneaks and watches videos of what are obviously strippers (or just women who are scantily clad) dancing with large, jiggly rear ends in highly provocative ways. She watches while wrapped inside her hijab during prayer with the other women. The adults are clueless & she’s not looking to them for how to act, but instead, the screen. As women leave the area, Amy regards each woman’s rear, likely thinking about her own, probably hoping to be like that someday.
Amy is in her room later that night, gazing out her window down at the city, listening to her mom on the phone with her dad, her mom feigning Joy still over the upcoming wedding. Her mom brings the house phone in to hand Amy to say hi to her dad. Without saying a word, Amy drops the phone out the window. Which, is hilarious, but also a red flag that she,s acting out/obviously taking on stress, too. Her mom doesn’t comment on this.
Cut scene to the girls at some carnival. Older teen boys approach them & the girls awkwardly try to flirt. They ask the girls how old they are, & Amy replies honestly: 11. The other girls stumble & lie saying “14! High school!!†But the boys walk away saying, “they’re little girls.†The girls express annoyance with Amy for her honesty, but it’s quickly forgotten.
Little bit later, they’re sitting in the dirt, sharing cotton candy, like innocent little girls. But also talking about Kim Kardashian, & suggesting one of the girls (Yasmine) go on a diet. At one point during this, one of the girls picks up a condom (probably used) from the ground, blowing it up like a balloon, & putting it under her shirt, joking around that it’s a big boob (what kid didn’t do that with balloons?). One of the girls freaks out that it’s a condom. The girl who found it disagrees, because, ‘it’s pink!’ But the others argue back that it can be any color. “They’re what people use to make love if you have AIDS!†The girls all panic & go to Yasmine’s house to wash the other girls mouth out with hand soap, as if that would cure everything. All of this further illustrates complete ignorance at that age about sex. We didn’t have sex Ed til 10th grade/age 15.
Later, in yasmine’s room, Yas pulls out a laptop. Her nice but useless mom pops in w/snacks & leaves again. The laptop obviously has no parental controls on it, as she & the other girls instantly access video chat servers with strange guys on it. A teen boy appears & the girls try to flirt with him, with their cam off. Yasmine accidentally turns the camera on while Angelica is typing. The older boy on the other end is repulsed, shouting, “go play with dolls, you stupid little girls!†Angelica is mortified & the girls storm out of Yasmine’s room, just as her clueless mom enters, wondering what was going on but never finding out.
- cut to Amy practicing dance again in the bathroom at home (still fairly G rated).
Angelica freaks out on yasmine at school for the laptop cam incident, & the girls kick yasmine out of the dance group.
Amy volunteers to replace her in the group. The girls don’t think she can dance, but Amy shows them how she’s been practicing. At first, it’s that G rated stuff, but then, she gets on her knees & twerks like the risqué video she’d been watching before with the adult women. She makes a gesture with her hand toward her mouth like she’s thinking, like in the video, but she clearly has no idea what she is supposed to be thinking about. The camera angles aren’t lewd, & the kid looks awkward. The girls are entranced by this new dance move, though, and soon, Angelica is recording her.
Then Amy is the one teaching her peers, & they are emulating her (after she emulated random adults).
This is a scene that probably makes people pretty uncomfortable, Amy is teaching the girls to twerk. How to move their pelvis that specific way. The girls don’t know what they’re doing & just look like awkward little kids wiggling around, but Amy shows them the proper form, what part of the lower back to engage, etc. The camera is zoomed in to their torsos, but it’s not directly aimed at any of their rears specifically. The girls improve their ‘form’ & still have no clue the meaning behind this movement. Likely think it’ll give them an edge in the competition. She shows them how to make that weird baby face, even though they seem to find it silly. This scene lasts a total of approx 2-3 minutes total. Amy is extremely happy to be accepted & looked up to. This is the acceptance, camaraderie & distraction sheâ€s been looking for.
Later, when Amy & Angelica are hanging out alone, Angelica confides in her how she never sees her parents, how they always say she’s a bad daughter. She longs for their approval and hopes someday her dancing will win that approval. Amy admits she hopes her dad never comes back.
Amy is woken up at 5 the next morn by her mom & aunt to help prep some of the wedding food (apparently it takes days to prep). Her aunt says, “today, I will teach you to become a woman. Today we will start planning for your father’s wedding.†Yet more allusions to Amy’s nonexistent womanhood & another dimension of their cultural definition of it, that Amy doesn’t look too thrilled about,
Amy runs late for the dance audition, & arrives just in time to see her friends auditioning without her. The girls stumble through, & the Contest judges don’t seem to have a problem with their dancing, & tell the girls they did great. As they exit, Amy runs off. The next group going in to audition looks markedly older than the Cuties group.
When Amy gets home, she is scolded by her aunt for abandoning her meal prep chores, but her aunt stops short when she notices Amy has begun to menstruate & has bled through her pants. Amy looks confused— perhaps no one has talked to her about this bio function? This is the ONLY time an adult speaks to Amy directly about a reproductive health issue. Sort of. Her aunt says, “That’s nothing. All women go through that. When I was your age, I was engaged. I was barely taller than you. A few years later, they washed me, dressed me, and covered me in a white cloth from my head down to my feet. Then they took me to my husband to get married. When he lifted the white cloth covering me, he presented me to his friends, his guests, his family. It was a grandiose wedding. I wish that god grant you the same destiny.†Amy’s eyes widen at this, & not with excitement.
Amy’s mother comes in later. Her mom says “you are a woman now.†More mixed messages about what woman means and if this child is one. It seems so far, only other children are calling the girls what they are— kids. Adults in their lives are saying ‘woman.’ Or they simply aren’t around to discuss or clarify. The pronounced absence of adult discussion is purposeful. It depicts many vital coming of age conversations that parents never have with their kids.
The next day the girls anxiously wait to hear from the judge and distract themselves in a laser tag building like kids do. Initially they are upset with Amy for missing the audition, however the fun of playing in the laser tag building distracts them from this and all seems forgiven. They pretend to shoot one another dead, yet another adult concept they likely don’t fully grasp. They are eventually caught by a young adult security Guard for breaking into the laser tag building and not paying admission. The security guard wants all of the girls parents contact information, but the girls will not give it. He attempts to detain them by grabbing Angelica‘s arm. Angelica and the other girls begin accusing him of trying to cop a feel and call him a child molester. Another older security guard shows up in the middle of this, trying to figure out what’s going on. As security guard number#1 attempts to explain the situation to security guard#2, One of the girls gets a text and starts shrieking with excitement. The cuties have been excepted into the finalists position of the competition. The security guards still want to contact the girls parents, however the girls begin pleading with them not to contact them, because if they get in trouble they will not be able to participate in the contest. They explain to the dubious security guards that they are dancers.
Amy begins showing them her dance moves to prove to them that they are in fact a serious dance troupe. Her dancing becomes increasingly provocative with a twerk once or twice and then she does some other generic moves. The older security guard looks oddly intrigued, but the younger one send the girls on their way with a warning, then looks at his coworker and says,†seriously?†in a judgmental tone, likely calling him out for being possibly turned on by a child.
This is another scene that would probably upset a lot of people. The girls record a dance video on Amy’s phone. It is angled in an upward position which is inherently fairly provocative. They are positioned on a staircase and dance up and down the stairs in an increasingly provocative manner. Amy wiggles her butt a couple of times, another girl does a leg lift that I’ve seen done in ballet but obviously seems provocative with the music they have playing. There’s a closeup of Amy twerking 3x in a row. Not exactly necessary, like, we get the point, but I’ve seen cheerleaders at jr high pep rallies & American dance recitals do much more risqué stuff.
All the 3min scene shows still is still just how These kids with underdeveloped bodies are moving in a way they have no idea can be perceived as sexual. They just know that these behaviors will garner social praise. They live for the Likes. The dance video gets posted to social media. That easily.
Amy becomes increasingly preoccupied with the praise she gets online. She stops helping her little brother with every day things like breakfast. She goes to school dressed looking like a 20 year old. No one at home notices or stops her. A boy a classmate complements her as she passes by. She gets nothing but praise from peers for all of these behaviors. Her friends cheer her on and dance a ring around the Rosie Circle around her— clearly quite appropriately childlike, as they idolize how grown up she’s acting.
Later in the schoolyard, he picks a fight with a girl bigger than her for what appears to be no reason. It is quite likely related to repressed anger and lack of control she is feeling at home absorbing all of her mothers stress.
The girls go shopping for skimpy dance outfits for the contest with money stolen from Amy’s mom. They also buy sets of underwear and bras and wear them over their clothing, much like Natalie Portman did in the professional. They toss the garment wrappings up in the air like confetti running around with joy as they record a video. They upload the video to the Internet.
Amy’s little brother tattles on her for stealing her mom’s money when she gets home. Amy’s mother collapses near the dinner table afterward probably from stress. Amy’s little brother runs to her to check on her while Amy sits at the table, her expression blank. She is likely trying to detach due to an inability to cope.
Her cousin catches her sitting in the hallway later with his phone, which he takes back from her. Amy freaks out, as that’s her sole source of distraction from home stressors & the social contact & praise she is addicted to. She was mid conversation with Angelica at the time, who was telling her she was concerned about the previous underwear video they posted.
When Samba refuses to give her the phone back, Amy stares at him & removes her hoodie (she has a shirt on underneath). Samba seems confused, asking, “what are you doing?†Amy holds her gaze & unbuttons the top button of her jeans (they are still completely up & zipped). Samba realizes what Amy is attempting to do and shoves her backward shouting, “what is wrong with you?!†He turns to leave. Amy, still desperate for that screen, lunges at her cousin, clawing him, screaming, “give it back!†biting him until she gets hold of the phone.
She darts into the bathroom, locking herself in, as her cousin yells for his phone from outside. She sits on the bathroom floor against the tub, clutching the phone to her chest. This shot is only from the rib cage up to her head. You see her reach down off screen and make a motion with her arms as if she is pulling her pants down, however this is completely off screen. The shot then cuts to the legs from her knees to her feet area, showing that she did hike down her jeans and her underwear. Only her extended legs are shown, nothing else. The shot then cuts back to her upper body as before, where she looks down at the phone her knee is suddenly visible beside her, leg bent, implying she’s opened her legs, but nothing below the rib cage is on screen at all. The camera on the phone flashes. It is obviously implied that she photographed her vulva. The film then cuts to show her phone screen that displays nothing but white screen and a blue public upload button, which she presses. Having her fix, she then gives her cousin the phone back.
Cut scene to what looks like an innocent normal math class, or Amy looks very much like the child she still is seated at her desk. Until she’s called to the front of the class and is shown to be in a crop top and mini skirt, that is. A boy slapps her rear as she walks by his desk and his admonished by the teacher, and told to go to the principal. The boy argues that it’s Amy’s fault for posting “nudes†online. Amy argues with him and tells him to shut up. He calls her a slut. And she acts out yet again and stabs the boy through the hand with another kids pencil. The class is in an uproar.
Afterward, her mom slaps her in the face at home, listing how Amy lies, steals, attacks classmates, and acts like a whore. Her mother expresses how humiliating this all is. These are all huge red flags that Amy is in dire need of support that she hasn’t been getting. Her mom continues to hit her some more.
The next scene opens to Amy’s mother and aunt praying and throwing what seems to be water on Amy who is standing in the middle of the room, possibly for quite some time, and shivering. Amy is soaked, and clad only in a tank top and small boy short underwear. Apparently this is some sort of ritual to rid someone of a jinn or other demon that could be the cause of such bad behaviors. Amy is forced to keep her arms raised level with her shoulders & they tremble with fatigue & cold. The camera begins circling Amy as she continues to tremble, and then fall to her knees, where her trembling turns into a dance similar to Twerking but also looks reminiscent of some Nat Geo tribal dances I have seen. It’s weird. One can only assume Amy was trying to appease her relatives and show that a demon was leaving her body (&/or she was escaping the unpleasantness of the situation through trying to dance, it’s hard to say). This sort of shaking dance scene lasts for 45 seconds, and the camera circles her the entire time— it does not linger on any single part of Amy’s body. I think this scene would probably make most people uncomfortable due to Amy’s limited attire, however I think it may actually be culturally accurate for whatever exorcism her relatives were attempting to perform (just a guess). Amy’s relatives do stop trying to throw water on her by the end of that 45 second wiggling dance.
Amy meets up with her cuties crew the next day. The girls are all upset about the nude photos, saying people think they are all sluts. Amy argues, “we want to show them we are real women.†“ not like that!†The girls insist. Her friends have creeps asking them for nudes now. Despite their upset, Amy insists they rehearse, but the girls refuse. Amy starts practicing alone. The shots of her doing so are from the shoulders up. Her friends won’t dance and she gets increasingly panicked and desperate, and they leave her calling her crazy.
Despondent on the couch at home, an imam(?) visits her, & feels her forehead (saying a prayer, I think?). The imam gets up & speaks to Amy’s mom, giving her moral permission to leave her unhappy marriage, but stating that amy’s problems have nothing to do with a demonic or evil spirit, implying her issues are likely related to home problems, etc.
Amy returns to school in normal kid clothes and her friends don’t wait for her on the stairs. She is alone again. However, Angela wants to privately stay friends with Amy at the apartment building, but only at the apartment building, due to peer pressure from her friends. Amy bags to be in the dance group, but Angelica says no, that it is over.
Amy returns to school in normal kid clothes and her friends don’t wait for her on the stairs. She is alone again. However, Angela wants to privately stay friends with Amy at the apartment building, but only at the apartment building, due to peer pressure from her friends. Amy begs to be in the dance group, but Angelica says no, that it is over.
Later, Amy is alone in the apt with dozens of wedding gift baskets. Her dad is home. With his bride, whose white robes seem to terrify her. Amy runs away knocking some of the gift baskets over as she flees.
Amy puts on her dance outfit and waits for Yasmine to walk by. Amy shoves her into the river as she passes. Yasmin flails in the water, unable to swim. Amy looks shocked at her struggling, and her breathing gets visibly harder and her eyes widen. I don’t think she was expecting her to be unable to swim. However she does not try to help her friend. This speaks to the level of desperation this child felt for praise and attention. Amy walks away once she sees her friend get hold of a buoy.
When Amy shows up at the competition the other dance groups look like actual older teams. The cuties are visibly smaller. They reluctantly except her back in place of Yasmine.
The cuties begin their dance number and the crowd initially cheers at their impressive choreography, even some of the Twerking. However, once the girls do a full on stripper move bending over and putting their fingers through their thighs, the crowd begins to boo. They keep doing it as the girls twerk on their knees twice and then on their stomachs. The crowd boos harder. They to work awkwardly again. The crowd stops doing and mostly are silent and discussed in shock. It is surprising that the judges or whatever adults that were in charge did not step in and stop this. The camera cuts to one creeper in the crowd who appears to be enjoying the dance.
Mid-routine, Some wedding confetti from a gift basketFalls out of Amy’s hair and Amy freezes on stage. Reality seems to have collided with her fantasy escape. She begins to cry and runs off stage.
Her aunt shames her as she gets home still in costume. She says they are the clothes of a whore. Amy’s mother finally stands up for her daughter and tells her aunt to back off. Any bags her mother not to go to the wedding, but her mother gets dressed anyway saying to Amy that she does not have to go if she doesn’t want to. The mother appears resigned to her duty but Amy can be who she wants to be, with her mom’s support.
Amy is left to make her own decision. Amy decides to leave behind the dance outfit and the dress for the wedding side-by-side on her bed. She goes downstairs and peaks in at the wedding reception in modest normal kid clothes before walking outside to jump rope with girls in similar kid clothes and kids in more traditional garb— likely illustrating the line she jumps between being on the edges of more traditional cultures & the modern. She chooses to be happy as a child, as she is, now having acceptance from her mom to simply be. One can hope that there are talks later with her mother in the future with this newfound faith in her parent.
This is a very paraphrased description, mind you. But that’s the gist of it.
