Preeti Panigrahi

Kani Kusruti

Kesav Binoy Kiron

Kajol Chugh

Nandini Verma

Devika Shahani

Akash Pramanik

Aman Desai

Sumit Sharma

Jitin Gulati

Pratap Singh

Pradeep Kapoor

Neeraj Varma

Ved Amrita

Ahana Malla

Megha Aggarwal

Chiraag Behl

Jatin Sehgal

Samta Goyal

Mamta Chauhan

Tanu Gusain

Kapil Raj

Shuchi Talati

Rikki Agarwal

Marc Irmer

Sneha Khanwalkar

Dilip Shankar

Sanjay Gulati

Tanya Negi

Pierre Oberkampf

Ananya Bhide

Shaahid Amir

Dooj Ramchandani

Claire Chassagne

Kent Bassett

Arzoo Ali

Alex C. Lo

Eléonore Anselme

Gudny Hummelvoll

Ali Fazal

Amrita David

Jih-E Peng

Avyakta Kapur

Olivier Père

Rémi Burah

Richa Chadha

Drama

Romance

गर्ल्स विल बी गर्ल्स

Pushing Buttons Studios

Crawling Angel Films

Dolce Vita Films

Cinema Inutile

Blink Digital

France

India

Norway

Brent Marchant

The coming of age process is different for everyone, and that’s especially true for those of different generations. Those who underwent this rite of passage years ago, however, arguably may have faced more challenges and restrictions than what’s present in these more liberated and open-minded times, and such individuals may be somewhat envious of the privileges that have been afforded their younger counterparts. That’s very much the case with Anila (Kani Kusruti) and her teenage daughter, Mira (Preeti Panigrahi), who has (or at least should have) a comparatively easier time with this than her mother did. Nevertheless, Anila still expects Mira to conform to the rigid standards of her own youth, enrolling her in a strict Himalayan boarding school and hovering around her like an overprotective helicopter parent, particularly when she befriends a young man, Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron), who becomes a budding – if severely restricted – romantic interest. Despite these constraints, though, Mira is supremely curious to clandestinely explore her emerging sexuality and female drives while at least superficially maintaining the image of propriety expected of a young Indian girl. Matters become further complicated, however, when Anila takes more than a passing supervisory interest in her daughter’s new beau, a dynamic that produces added friction between mother and daughter. As if adolescence weren’t complicated enough in itself, these circumstances raise the tension level inside the family household, in the relationship between the two youngsters and in the mind of someone who’s trying to figure out her life under conditions fraught with confusion, contradiction, constraint and more than a few double standards. Writer-director Shuchi Talati’s debut feature takes a nuanced, mature look at what can often be a baffling time of life, one that’s made even more complex by the potent influences impacting it. The film tends to fizzle somewhat as it approaches its conclusion, almost as if the director doesn’t quite know how to wrap up the story. But that doesn’t hinder the production overall when it comes to covering some previously unexplored fertile ground when it comes to a subject that’s often handled tritely and riddled with clichés. This recipient of two Independent Spirit Awards – for Kusruti’s supporting performance and as a candidate for the competition’s John Cassavetes Award – definitely makes a mark among 2024’s releases, even if, as the premiere offering from a new filmmaker, it could use some shoring up at times. That aside, though, “Girls Will Be Girls” is an impressive start for a promising new auteur, one well worth streaming online. Indeed, through this work, audiences may never view the coming of age process in quite the same way ever again.