Girlhood, film review: Céline Sciamma's girl-gang movie is intimate and observational

(15) Céline Sciamma, 113 mins. Starring: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh

Sciamma's film is about friendship and shifting hierarchies

Céline Sciamma's girl-gang movie is a disarming affair, a long way removed from the macho posturing of other French films set in the Banlieue, such as La Haine.

The director's approach is intimate and observational. The film is about friendship, shifting hierarchies and the many small decisions its main character, Marieme (Karidja Touré), has to make on her road to adulthood.

There are some brutal moments – catfights, domestic abuse – but it is the quieter episodes which register the most strongly.