So I saw the trailer on Netflix and thought "This looks interesting." but unfortunately the whole story can be summed up by the trailer. The story is set in gay Paris - and told through the eyes of Dounia, a young girl struggling to find her way (cliche number one). She wants easy money and street cred, but struggles with...well, she struggles with something or other all the time. First, she tries to get credibility with the dealer she idolizes, then she struggles with her family situation and mother, then she struggles with her emerging feeling of horniness towards a male dancer, then she struggles to get away from the dealer she previously idolized, etc.The character is unpredictable, doing things that later come back to get her and not learning the error of her ways at all. I get the feeling that at the end of the story the character hasn't matured at all - in fact her spazzy unpredictability results in the death of a friend. I get the feeling that she wouldn't feel responsible though...Anyhow, the story is well shot but needs some serious editing. It's a good 30-40 minutes too long. And the message is so mixed that there's no feeling of learning or growth in the movie - is it about the hard circumstances of migrants in France?Soundtrack is weird too, a few scenes completely spoiled by music that does NOT work for that particular act.I'd give it a miss - much better fare on Netflix these days such as John Wick, The Last King, etc.

Wow! What I expected to be a medicare classic sentimental a girl-from-the-ghetto story, turned up to be an extraordinary experience of incredibly acted, beautifully complex, unconventionally artistic movie. If this is the director's first feature movie, I am genuinely looking for next one.The story is about a 15-year-old Muslim girl called Dounia and her black friend Maimouna that both grow up in a poor migrant superb of Paris.They have both different characters and family situation, but they both share their insecurities and hopes with each other openly and you can feel the strength of their influence on each other even when it seems like they paths split.They are both clueless teenage girls, that feel like they deserve more in life than what they were given by their parents or society. And it's Dounia that is more willing to risk and fight for that better future. The relationship dynamic is fascinating to watch and very well acted. There is also interesting and potentially romantic (?) relationship between Dounia and a guy who is a dancer, and whose artistic aspirations in dancing is confusing her (and her own value system). And what's more, her friend Maimonua doesn't seem to be so impressed with him as Dounia, so she acts very ambiguously toward him and even sees him as weak, even though she is not sure that what she sees as a weakness is actually a weakness after all. This split between her contradictory emotions is amazingly well acted (in my opinion by a rising star) young actress Oulaya Amamra.The ghetto, lack of meaning, lack of guidance and respected adult authorities, lack of social (economic) opportunities and feeling of being an alien in someone else's society is the true antagonist of the story.It drives Dounia (and Maimonua follows her in admiration) to make naive and bad choices, but at the same time you feel something very authentic and even admirable in her drive to find the most accessible way out of her frustrating situation. As there seems to be no adult that understands her feelings, she relies on her best friend Maimonua feedback and evaluation of her. But they both can only know, what they can learn from their surrounding culture and significant adults around themselves - who also seem clueless and desperate, so why should Dounia trust them at all? She has an immature drunk mother and no father. So when she drops out of school and start selling drugs, the world looks like it belongs to her (and her best friend), unable to see inevitable consequences of the path she puts herself and their friendship in.And as the movie progress, you ask yourself how much she can get away with and will she finally learn harsh life lessons on her own or will the unusual relationship with the dancer help her to see beyond distorted values she desperately tries to believe in? It is a matter of taste, I guess, but a Golden globe nomination, 10 minutes standing ovation and subsequent win at Cannes festival is, in my opinion, well deserved. Besides I read that the "self-thought" director Houda Benyamina herself grew up in the type of suburb she captures in this movie, so you can't accuse her of over-dramatization or stereotyping.I've seen A Man called Ove (2016) and Toni Erdmann (2016) which are both nominated for 2017 Oscars for foreign movies, but I think Divines deserves it more. I personally, put Divines to my Top 2016 list of movies.Highly recommend.

Hmmmm, a Golden Globe nomination for best foreign movie ?? Can't have been a good year for foreign movies. We have this girl living in a Roma camp in some Paris suburb, so we know this is a social drama. They add some social stereotypes around her, a slutty mother, a friend with very religious Muslim parents, a local gangster/drug dealer, (well, you get the drift i'm sure), all people with no real prospect of a future. On top of that we get a high-strung dramatic musical score that sets in occasionally to remind us that this is serious stuff, oh and a kind of romance between the girl and a dancer that doesn't really add to the plot, but merely serves as an excuse for some fancy camera footage of dancers, so we can cut back and forth between violent scenes and scenes with dancers in motion. Does that make it art ? Well it seems the Globe jury bought the premise, but in my opinion this movie is 90 % window dressing to cover the fact that it's not much of a story. The girl is obsessed with making a lot of money, but she's also completely clueless and goes from one stupid plan to another, without realizing that there might be consequences for her actions. And that's pretty much it. To me it seems like some new director straight out of film school, and determined to make an impression just piled a lot of clichés on top of each other and forgot that really great movies are driven by good stories.

This is one very affecting movie, a type of film that fills you with a sense of real people feeling real emotions --nothing is fake, all the characters and all their needs are as real and painful as it gets. And just as in life, nothing is resolved in a satisfying ending.The lead actress is one very ambitious young lady, Oulaya Amamra, who will make her mark on cinematic history soon, but you might want to catch her in her early stage to see how she progresses quickly to Meryl Streep (or at least Jennifer Lawrence) status. Her character's name is Dounia, and she is a daughter of the town slut in a Roma (Gypsy) camp.Her best friend, Maimounia, a black girl, daughter of a Muslim priest, is as lovable as they come. The two of them conspire to become rich. Even though they achieve the goal, it eludes them in a way that is completely unfair, yet realistic. There is no simple resolution, and therefore, the film is just like life: it is completely and utterly unfair.Although the plot seems simple, it is extremely more complex and a summary of the action doesn't do justice to the story. Dounia has a love-hate relationship with a male dancer that takes too much away from the rest of the film, and the scenes of the dancer are way over long and unnecessary, but thankfully it is the relationship that she has with her best female friend that is the true heart of the film.To say more would detract from one's enjoyment of the twists and turns that ensue during the course of the film. Rest assured, you will be glad you spent time in the company of the actresses and the female director of this very impressive film.