Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
After the death of her beloved grandmother, eight-year-old Nelly meets a strangely familiar girl her own age in the woods. Instantly forming a connection with this mysterious new friend, Nelly embarks on a fantastical journey of discovery which helps her come to terms with this newfound loss.
Céline Sciamma's Petite Maman is a marvel of economy and emotional precision — a 72-minute film that achieves something rare: genuine magic realism rooted entirely in intimate, grounded feeling. The central conceit (a girl meeting her mother as a child) is handled with extraordinary restraint, never explained or over-sentimentalized, giving it a truly distinctive voice and conception that earns high Novelty. The two young leads (Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz) deliver naturalistic, deeply felt performances that are genuinely exceptional for child actors. The plot is lean and quietly profound, threading grief, time, and the mother-daughter bond with sophistication. Cinematography by Claire Mathon is clean and observational but not especially dazzling — competent and well-suited rather than visually striking. The ending is tender and emotionally resonant but slightly abrupt, leaving a faint sense of incompleteness that keeps it from full marks.