Petite Maman (2021)

Just delightful! This story is about Nelly, an eight year old French girl whose parents are cleaning out Nelly's grandmother's house after her death. In the woods, Nelly meets Marion, a girl who looks just like her, and they are played to perfection by identical twins Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz, respectively. Many synopses give away an important plot point about the two girls, but I choose not to. If you are paying attention, you will come to it on your own.

Director/writer/costume designer Céline Sciamma captivates us with the sweet girls and the movie would be lovely for children to watch (if they understand the French language or can read subtitles–as of now, no dubbed version is available). Sciamma used some of her own clothing and props.

Three tracks from the movie by Jean-Baptiste de Laubier, AKA Para One, are available on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. The gorgeous cinematography is by Clare Mathon.

Sciamma was last blogged for Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Mathon for Spencer. Apparently, Sciamma auditioned no one else after meeting the Sanz twins, who make their screen debuts.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hugely in favor of this, averaging 97%, while its audiences are shrinking at 78. We watched it yesterday on iTunes/Apple TV and it can be rented or bought on other platforms.