YOU’VE GOT TO WATCH ‘GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS’

Last night, we were invited to a screening of Girls Will Be Girls, the winner of the Audience Award and the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival 2024. 

This beautiful, delicately-handled coming-of-age film reminded us of our awkward late teenage years - down to hiding phones from parents (though in our case it was a Nokia 8310 under our pillow).

Directed by Shuchi Talati, Girls Will Be Girls is all about Mira (played wonderfully by Preeti Panigrahi), the newly-selected Head Prefect at a strict boarding school in the Himalayas. Like many girls her age - particularly South Asian ones - she battles with the expectations placed on her by her family and by society, while also wanting to explore things on her own terms. When the new boy, Srinivas (Kesav Binoy Kiron) catches her attention, Mira grapples with the temptation to put her good-girl reputation on the line. 

What follows is a slow burn of burgeoning young romance, an exploration of sexuality and at the heart of it all, a volatile mother-daughter relationship. We watch as Preeti’s mother Anila (Kani Kusruti) struggles to strike the balance between loosening the reins so her daughter doesn’t feel smothered and keeping her on track in a society that prizes compliance, academic success and ‘virtue’. She wants to be the cool mum, but while navigating her own insecurities she ends up being…well, a bit intrusive.

The performances by Kani and Preeti as mother and daughter respectively are nuanced and beautifully-done. Both characters are navigating a range of emotions from affection to envy, insecurity and a need to be noticed. And both actors do a stellar job showcasing these. Director Shuchi Talati has handled the story gracefully, with moments of soft intimacy, uneasy tension and at times, a familiar discomfort. 

We loved the nostalgia and relatability of Girls Will Be Girls, which looks at the complexities of the transition from girlhood to womanhood in a conservative society.

And we especially loved that it’s got women at the helm - from the leading roles to the director, the cinematographer (Jih-E Peng) and the producers - Shuchi Talati, Indian actor Richa Chadha and Claire Chassagne. Plus, we understand that Talati opted for a mostly female crew on set as well.

Girls Will Be Girls is out now at select cinemas across the UK.