‘The Little Sister’ Review: An Algerian Teen in Paris Confronts Her Attraction to Women in a Delicate Tale of Repression Unbound

‘The Little Sister’ Review: An Algerian Teen in Paris Confronts Her Attraction to Women in a Delicate Tale of Repression Unbound

Cannes: French Muslim filmmaker Hafsia Herzi charts five seasons in a young woman's intellectual and stalled sexual coming-of-age, with a powerfully restrained turn from newcomer Nadia Melliti.

Hafsia Herzi Brings Live-Wire Spirit to Cannes Competition Title ‘The Little Sister’: ‘I’d Always Dreamed of Doing Something Fast, a Bit Thrown Together.’

Hafsia Herzi’s breakout turn in 2007’s “The Secret of the Grain” catapulted her from obscurity to stardom, establishing her as a mainstay of French cinema. Just over a decade later, she redefined her artistic path with her self-produced directorial debut, “You Deserve a Lover,” which premiered out of Critics’ Week in 2019. Lately, both sides […]

Review: The Little Sister

17/05/2025 - CANNES 2025: Hafsia Herzi directs with tenderness and energy the romantic journey of a young woman searching for new sensations but subjected to voluntary servitude

'The Little Sister' Review: A French Arab Queer Woman Tries To Find Herself

CANNES – There has to be something quietly reassuring about the world that a movie about a first-generation French Algerian woman coming to terms with her sexuality is not deemed groundbreaking in 2025. This is a story we’ve seen many times before, either on film or television. Yes, even one centred on a queer person wrestling with their Muslim faith. So much so, as Hafsia Herzi’s “The Little Sister” begins to unfold, you start to wonder what ab…

Hafsia Herzi's "The Little Sister" - Cannes 2025 Film Review - The Moveable Fest HH

A Parisian teen may see the complexities of her life as an obstacle, but a drama views her as a character rich in possibilities. The post Cannes 2025 Review: Hafsia Herzi’s “The Little Sister” Compassionately Chronicles an Age of Contradictions appeared first on The Moveable Fest.