Petite Maman (2021)

Youth is a time capsule of emotions. Most of those emotions and moments take place when we are tiny. It’s a time of innocence and being as carefree as humanly possible. What is often not discussed during that period is the idea of death and how such a concept and an action permeates over us all. Nelly, an 8-year-old child in France, is confronted with the idea of losing someone she loves. The person in question is her grandmother, and it seems that no one around her knows how to process the grief of that loss adequately. Because of that emotional separation, Nelly is left to process that loss alone. Nelly is sent to spend time at her mother’s childhood home two perform a clear out of her grandmother’s things. While Nelly is there, she meets a young girl, Marion, and the two become friends.

Celine Sciamma is one of those directors who know how to tap into the idea of growing. She innately realizes that we are all constantly growing and changing, and this keen eye for observation is on full exploration in her latest film Petite Maman. Journeying with Nelly becomes the director’s obsession. This brilliant and observant child wants to understand why her family can’t or won’t discuss their grief over the loss of such a beloved relative. The fact that she chooses to befriend a stranger shows how unafraid of life she is. There is a magical reason the two girls become friends but telling the audience would spoil all the joy this film provides.

The joy of this film is ironic in many ways. At its heart, The film seeks to redefine Nelly’s connection with her mother. She realizes her mother has been closed off for so many years based on the loss she knew she would experience one day. Through her friendship with Marion, Nelly learns about what her mother was like as a child. The two children bond like sisters because the actresses portraying Nelly and Marion are sisters. The bond they share is the lynchpin and inescapable joy of the movie. Céline Sciamma smartly allows her script to cater to the young actors she’s directing. This means these girls get to have fun their way. Making pancakes, mystery theater, and even a boating adventure are all fun aspects of the relationship between these two magnificent children. Sciamma prefers to let one day unfold directly into the next for this story, giving the movie a natural organic feel. Though the film’s beginning is slow, the film takes flight once the audience is allowed to engage in the friendship. I became emotional regarding whether Nelly would eventually tell Marion a secret she had been hiding. It’s almost like I didn’t want that strong bond created to be broken by a secret that could harm the other child. Sciamma doesn’t even worry about that, though. Her goal is that we are invested in how Nelly chooses to process her grief and that she has someone to help her do that.

All of the performances stand out here, specifically Josephine Sanz.  To embody Nelly she has to have a high level of curiosity without a hint of skepticism but still be allowed to be a playful child. She executes this flawlessly. Gabrielle Sanz is also remarkable in her role as Marion and the two girls, while sisters play off each other as well as scene partners.

The truth is that processing grief is different for everyone; I think that’s what the movie was trying to point out. No matter your age, death will always be brutal, but how you remember the person that’s gone gives them infinite life. That’s the lesson I’m going to take away from the film. There may well be a generational gap between mother and daughter, but it doesn’t mean the love fades away. If you’re lucky like Nelly in this film, it only grows as time progresses. Sometimes a child’s imagination can show adults what they’ve missed out on from their past. I definitely feel this masterpiece is worth visiting on that theme alone. Check it out, and you might learn something about yourself.