GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS

(director/writer: Shuchi Talati; cinematographer: Jih-E Peng; editor: Amrita David; music:Pierre Oberkampf; cast: Kani Kusruti (Anila), Preeti Panigrahi (Mira), Kesay Binoy Kiron (Sri), Kajol  (Priya Chugh); Runtime: 118; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Richa Chadha, Shuchi Talati, Claire Chassagne, Sanjay Galati; Dolce Vita Films/Juno Films; 2024-India/France/Norway/USA-in Hindi & English with English subtitles)

“Slow-burn tale about a teenager’s sexual awakening.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The U.S.-based Indian director and writer Shuchi Talati makes this intimate coming-of-age film her auspicious feature film debut in this slow-burn tale about a teenager’s sexual awakening.

The 16-year-old Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) is a goodie-goodie, book-smart student at a strict co-ed Indian boarding school in the Himalayas, in Northern India, where she’s been named the school’s head prefect (a role that requires her to be the perfect role model for the students, and the first girl to have that honor). The good-natured, handsome, and worldly 17-year-old Sri (Kesay Binoy Kiron), a recent transfer from Hong Kong, who has absentee parents, is her classmate. The two awkwardly strike up a friendship and find there’s an attraction between them they can’t resist.

Mira has a strained relationship with her protective non-traditional mother Anila (Kani Kusruti), which makes her feel lonely at home while her father is often away at work and has little contact with her.

When Sri visits Mira at her home the interactions with her mom are tense, as she openly states to Sri her hatred for her mom. Meanwhile mom enjoys it when Sri flirts with her.

The school lives by the rule that those girls who have lost their virginity, whether in reality or by false accusations, risk expulsion. The same doesn’t apply to the boys. When Mira reports some boy students for trying to take “upskirt” photos of the girls, the administration only weakly reacts.

Gender politics plays a large role in the film’s story, as we see the double-standards of living in a patriarchal society where the boys are not punished for their transgressions like the girls.

It played at the Sundance Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 8/28/2024  GRADE: B
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