‘The Girls We Want’ review: Inner-city kids fumble in Marseille-set debut

Dir: Prïncia Automotive. France. 2025. 93mins

A gaggle of children from inner-city Marseille is thrown into disarray when somebody returns after an extended absence within the vérité drama The Ladies We Need. This directorial debut from Prïncia Automotive follows within the footsteps of her earlier shorts like Barcelona (2019), all merchandise of her ’different movie faculty’ within the Mediterranean port metropolis which she established for these with out quick access to an arts training. The ensuing function has moments of documentary-like reality however, particularly in its ultimate third, additionally an inclination to be well-intentioned slightly than well-written.

A bent to be well-intentioned slightly than well-written

The movie premieres in Cannes Administrators’ Fortnight, and may attraction to festivals that screened Jean-Bernard Marlin’s Marseille-set 2018 Critics’ Week title Shéhérazade, which had a equally genuine, non-pro really feel (and shares Kader Benchoudar in a supporting position). 

The primary two acts observe goody two-shoes Omar (Housam Mohamed), of Comoran origins. He’s a burly teddy bear of a younger man who has been handed the keys to a Marseilles neighbourhood social centre over the summer season as a type of experiment. It’s simple to see why, as a result of he’s nice with each the attending children and his group of friends who assist him out. 

To finish the image of somebody who lucked out in life, Omar is head-over-heels in love with Yasmine (Leïla Haïchour, doing quite a bit in an underwritten position), who he intends to marry, although they’re ready to have intercourse to maintain issues ‘particular’ between them (she’s solely 17). Yasmine is usually at Omar’s facet, although his crew is in any other case all male and the blokes’ hormonal braggadocio will not be reined in when Yasmine is round. It’s clear that the slightly black-and-white means by which males — although, pointedly, not Omar — take a look at women is a topic that’s necessary for Automotive, who lets Yasmine sometimes query the blokes’ behaviour in a slightly didactic means. (It is usually extra distinguished within the English title than within the unique Les filles désir, taken from a music title from Swiss chanteuse Vendredi sur Mer that’s on the soundtrack.) 

When free spirit Carmen (Lou Anna Hamon) enters the image, issues change. She’s been absent for seven years, throughout which she labored as a prostitute (although she solely appears like she’s in her early twenties). She has come again to the centre with a promise to raised her life, but he boys wrestle to welcome her or think about her as something however a attainable hook-up. When Omar comes by means of because the dependable pal who makes an effort, Yasmine isn’t certain methods to react to all this, which is the place to begin for the plot twists to return.  

Although the screenplay is technically credited to Automotive and Léna Mardi, they have been helped by an extended record of collaborators that features the principal actors. This ensures that the characters’ world feels genuine and their dialogues ring true. The place the movie runs into bother is in its overarching construction and the best way by which the writing lacks complexity and stability. There’s an inclination to overstate some issues, for instance, whereas shying away from others (within the latter class is Omar’s massive second, misplaced in an ellipsis).

For too lengthy, Omar is somebody who at all times appears to know methods to deal with his points; he’s so good as to be slightly boring. However when he does lastly commit a pretend pas, he instantly isn’t even the protagonist of his personal movie anymore. Yasmine and Carmen are supporting characters till they aren’t, and it’s apparent that no groundwork has been laid for this sudden shift in perspective. A hyperactive piano rating strains to compensate for underpowered character work. It makes the ultimate third of the movie really feel emotionally indifferent from what got here earlier than, and its swerve into totally different territory not shocking a lot as baffling. 

Manufacturing values and performing are stable, with the fluid cinematography courtesy of Raphaël Vandenbussche (Eat the Night time) a standout.