The insights into girlhood in the opening are coming from the viewpoint of adults, while in a story this strange-but-true, it'd be more helpful to see these kids as they see themselves.
Impressively, the rookie scribe-helmers' sense of equilibrium is unerring and also surprisingly subtle.
60
Time OutDavid Fear
Time OutDavid Fear
Underwater shots of spherical midsections floating past the camera prove that they understand the beauty of bodies in motion, even if their storytelling feels a little stillborn.
60
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
17 Girls doesn't try to explain its many mysteries. That would have made for a better film, but this one does a nice job showing its effects.
17 Girls is mostly fueled by grrl-power, from it's nineties-era femme-centric alt-rock, to it's marginalization of boys as sperm-deposit devices, unfair but a natural corrective to years of women onscreen as purely sexual objects.
50
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
At which point does a superficially "nonjudgmental" approach simply seem coy rather than sincerely evenhanded?
50
Village Voice
Village Voice
So what does 17 Girls, the debut feature film from sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin, add to the "pregnancy pact" canon? A lot of style, but not much substance.
The setting for "17 Girls" is a French seaside town with a gorgeous beach. Aside from that, what you have here are the ingredi-ents for a Maury Povich show.