The Little Sister is Hafsia Herzi’s third feature, following her Critics’ Week debut You Deserve a Lover (2019) and her Un Certain Regard prize-winner Good Mother (2021).
Grade: B- (**1/2* out of *****)
It is an adapatation of Daas 2020 novel, “The Last One,” which she described as as a work of autofiction–the life of the main character, who is also named Fatima Daas, parallels Daas’ own.
The tale follows Fatima (Nadia Melliti), a young lesbian descendant of Algerian immigrants in Paris, who struggles to balance the rigid expectations of her Muslim family with her own personal desires.
The supporting cast of the picture, which is a co-production between France and Germany, includes Park Ji-min, Louis Memmi, Mouna Soualem, and several non-professional actors.
Fatima, 17, is the youngest of three daughters in a French-Algerian family in Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb of Paris. Wishing to find her own path in life, she begins university studies in Paris, where she embraces new experiences.
The film’s main issue is Fatima’s struggle to develop her identity, balancing erotic desires, including her attraction to women, while also maintaining sense of loyalty to her family.
There are some hearfelt scenes, often silent without any dialogue, and the encounters between mother and daughter are particularly powerful in demonstrating unconditinal love.
The cultural specificity, forcing Fatima to batte a prejudiced, male-dominated milieu, elevates this introspectve character study above the routine, but it’s not sufficient t turn it into an absorbing take of coming out.
Though told with care, empathy and comassion, The Little Sister is too timid, too straightforward and too predictable in charting Fatima’s process of self-discovery and self-acceptance.
The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Fest, where it won the Queer Palm and the Best Actress prize for Nadia Melliti, who cuts an arresting physical presence.
Cast
Nadia Melliti as Fatima
Park Ji-min as Ji-Na
Amina Ben Mohamed as Kamar
Rita Benmannana as Dounia
Melissa Guers as Nour
Razzak Ridha as Ahmed
Louis Memmi as Benjamin
Anouar Kardellas as Nacer
Joven Etienne as Joven
Waniss Chaouki as Tarik
Madi Dembele as Madi
Mahamadou Sacko as Rayan
Little Sister, The (2025): French Hafsia Herzi’s Tale of Coming of Age/Coming Out
The Little Sister is Hafsia Herzi’s third feature, following her Critics’ Week debut You Deserve a Lover (2019) and her Un Certain Regard prize-winner Good Mother (2021).
Grade: B- (**1/2* out of *****)
It is an adapatation of Daas 2020 novel, “The Last One,” which she described as as a work of autofiction–the life of the main character, who is also named Fatima Daas, parallels Daas’ own.
The tale follows Fatima (Nadia Melliti), a young lesbian descendant of Algerian immigrants in Paris, who struggles to balance the rigid expectations of her Muslim family with her own personal desires.
The supporting cast of the picture, which is a co-production between France and Germany, includes Park Ji-min, Louis Memmi, Mouna Soualem, and several non-professional actors.
Fatima, 17, is the youngest of three daughters in a French-Algerian family in Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb of Paris. Wishing to find her own path in life, she begins university studies in Paris, where she embraces new experiences.
The film’s main issue is Fatima’s struggle to develop her identity, balancing erotic desires, including her attraction to women, while also maintaining sense of loyalty to her family.
There are some hearfelt scenes, often silent without any dialogue, and the encounters between mother and daughter are particularly powerful in demonstrating unconditinal love.
The cultural specificity, forcing Fatima to batte a prejudiced, male-dominated milieu, elevates this introspectve character study above the routine, but it’s not sufficient t turn it into an absorbing take of coming out.
Though told with care, empathy and comassion, The Little Sister is too timid, too straightforward and too predictable in charting Fatima’s process of self-discovery and self-acceptance.
The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Fest, where it won the Queer Palm and the Best Actress prize for Nadia Melliti, who cuts an arresting physical presence.
Cast
Nadia Melliti as Fatima
Park Ji-min as Ji-Na
Amina Ben Mohamed as Kamar
Rita Benmannana as Dounia
Melissa Guers as Nour
Razzak Ridha as Ahmed
Louis Memmi as Benjamin
Anouar Kardellas as Nacer
Joven Etienne as Joven
Waniss Chaouki as Tarik
Madi Dembele as Madi
Mahamadou Sacko as Rayan