17 Girls

When they discover that their friend has become pregnant, a group of high school girls decide to show solidarity by becoming pregnant themselves. Although the story is based on a scandal that rocked the small New England town of Gloucester in 2008, writers/directors Delphine and Muriel Coulin set the story in the far more forgiving culture of France where the judgment from the town is lightened with some more progressive ideas from parents and administrators (all of whom, naturally, don’t have a girl that’s underage and pregnant). The result is a movie that presents the issue of what the girls did with as balanced an eye as possible, leaving it open to debate and discussion after the lights come on. The young actresses in the movie are all exceptional, particularly Louise Grinberg as Camille, the self-appointed ringleader of the group. The story paints itself into a bit of a corner as it unwinds, and not everybody will be satisfied with the way the Coulins end it, but the journey is well worth taking.