Controversy Turned ‘Cuties’ Into One Of Netflix’s Most Popular Movies

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As sadly expected, the outcry over a French coming-of-age drama has turned it into a must-see movie.

Well, that was expected. After an initial firestorm of displeasure over the initial poster for Netflix’s Cuties brought the film into the public eye, online outrage started up all over again when the film actually debuted on the streaming site this past Wednesday. Absent this outcry, French-Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré’s directorial debut would likely have slid under the radar, as just one indie/festival darling that premiered on the streaming service alongside the more high-profile movies like The Babysitter: Killer Queen (now the top-ranked movie) and TV shows like Julie and the Phantoms. Alas, thanks to the controversy, Cuties, a foreign-language coming-of-age melodrama about a young girl who is torn between her traditionalist family and her provocative new friends, is now the fourth-biggest movie on the site.

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In a classic “depiction equals endorsement” firestorm, the film has come under fire for the very thing it seeks to condemn. Yes, there are scenes where the actresses engage in “twerking” and use their would-be feminine whiles to get out of trouble, and the movie looks down upon these moments with a critical (but sympathetic) eye. If anything, the film follows the formula of Mean Girls, where our naive protagonist becomes the villain of her own story by acting out in ways that put even her new (more socially aware) friends at a distance. If this movie were about the dangers of underage drinking, you’d have to show kids getting drunk. This is the “Peter Rabbit lets Peter trigger Mr. McGregor’s blackberry allergy!” on proverbial steroids.

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