Another Sunday, another “Hidden Gem”. This time, we will take a look at a five-year-old French Film called, ‘Divines’. While the film didn’t do very well at the French Box Office, the movie did manage to garner the attention of critics from around the world. It was officially selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, in the Discovery section. Houda Benyamina, the film’s director and co-scriptwriter won the Cannes Film Festival Camera d’Or and César Award for Best First Feature Film for this film. Her sister, Oulaya Amamra, who was the film lead won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for the same.
So, what is this film all about? Well, ‘Divines’ follows Dounia, a teenage girl who lives in the Romani low-income projects with her aunt and sister. She and her best friend, Maimouna try to earn money by shoplifting and selling their stolen goods to their classmates – hopefully, to make enough money to get out of their current lives. Dounia soon learns about a gangster, Rebecca and finds out that she is making money by selling drugs. She decides to ask Rebecca to take her as her underling.
This film is a refreshing take on the films featuring a girl/boy with big dreams. The film is grounded realistically and teaches our character about the consequences of her actions. The trajectory of the story is quite brilliant, and it ends in an unexpectedly heartbreaking manner – many would not have expected that ending.
‘Divines’ is currently premiering on Netflix.
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