It’s mere coincidence that Céline Sciamma’s acclaimed Girlhood has a title that invites comparison to Richard Linklater’s Oscar front-runner Boyhood, but beyond the distaff focus of Sciamma’s film, Girlhood tells a very different coming-of-age tale. The film follows young Marieme, a black teenager growing up in the projects around Paris, as she becomes entranced with a much tougher girl gang. At first, Marieme is timid around her new friends, but when they pool their stolen earnings and rent a hotel room, dancing to Rihanna’s “Diamonds†in a pivotal sequence (which Vulture can debut exclusively), all that external pressure finally melts away. After a gangbusters debut at Cannes, Girlhood will play this week at Sundance before opening in New York on January 30.
