25
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.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
60
Arizona Republic by Bill 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.
60
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.
75
17 Girls has a powerful and loving sense of place.
58
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.
67
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.
90
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Wavering between light comedy and drama with wonderfully natural performances, 17 Girls doesn't judge anyone's behavior.