Petite Maman (2021)
★★★ — Petite Maman (2021)
Céline Sciamma had already established herself as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary French cinema before Petite Maman arrived in 2021. Her previous feature, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, drew widespread critical acclaim and put her firmly on the international radar, so a follow-up, however different in scale, was always going to attract attention. Produced by Lilies Films and France 3 Cinéma, Petite Maman is a short, self-contained piece, running just 72 minutes, and it wears its modest ambitions plainly. The story centres on eight-year-old Nelly, who, shortly after losing her grandmother, encounters a girl her own age while playing in the woods near her late grandmother's home. What follows is a quiet, gently fantastical friendship that carries suggestions of something more unusual beneath its unassuming surface. It sits comfortably alongside other thoughtful French productions of recent years, including Mustang (2015), though where that film crackled with urgency, Sciamma here is operating in a far more hushed register.
The two central roles are played by real-life twin sisters Joséphine Sanz and Gabrielle Sanz, a casting decision that pays obvious dividends in terms of physical resemblance and a natural, unforced ease between the two performers. Their mother is played by Nina Meurisse, with Stéphane Varupenne and Margot Abascal filling out the small family unit around them. The cast is minimal, which suits the film's chamber-piece approach. Sciamma wrote the screenplay herself, as she has on her previous work, and the script keeps its language spare and its plot deliberately lean. For a film that touches on grief, memory, and the peculiar emotional logic of childhood, it is a polished but unremarkable production in terms of scale, the kind of project that clearly cost little and made no attempt to hide that. Whether that austerity serves the story or constrains it is, of course, a matter of taste. France has a strong tradition of producing intimate, character-led dramas like this, and Yi Yi (2000), though from a very different cultural context, offers an interesting parallel in its patient, quiet observation of family and loss. Closer to home in terms of era, Sugar Cane Alley (1983) shows what French-language cinema can do when restraint is matched with emotional precision.
Petite Maman (2021), from acclaimed French director Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), is a delicate, minimalist fable about grief, childhood, and connection across time. On paper, it’s poetic: a young girl, recently bereaved, meets another child in the woods. The premise hints at magic realism, emotional discovery, and quiet healing. Hallmarks of Sciamma’s sensitive storytelling. Visually, it’s lovely: soft natural light, hushed forests, and interiors that feel lived-in and tender. But despite its brief 72-minute runtime, the film drags. Scenes stretch longer than they need to, conversations loop without deepening, and the pacing (intentionally meditative) tips into monotony. There’s little narrative momentum or dramatic tension; instead, we’re asked to sit with mood and implication. For some, that’s immersive. For others (myself included), it feels undercooked. A sketch rather than a full story. The emotional payoff, while gentle, doesn’t justify the earlier sluggishness. The child actors are natural and unaffected, and the bond they form is sweet, but the film’s ambiguity (about time, identity, and reality) never quite crystallises into meaning. It’s less mysterious than vague, leaving you wondering if profundity was sacrificed for restraint. Petite Maman is beautifully shot and quietly sincere, but ultimately too slight and slow to resonate deeply. Coming from Sciamma, whose past work balances intimacy with precision, this feels like a missed opportunity.
That tension between restraint and resonance is something I keep coming back to with Petite Maman. There is clearly craft here, and I have no doubt that Sciamma knew exactly what she was making. But knowing what you are doing and making it work for an audience are two different things, and for me this one falls short of that bar. The Sanz twins are a genuine find, and I would happily watch either of them in something with a bit more weight behind it. Sciamma at her best, as her admirers will tell you, finds a way to make stillness feel charged. Here, the stillness just sits there. I have seen quieter films hold me completely, and I have seen busy films leave me cold, so runtime and pace alone are never the issue. It is the sense, with Petite Maman, that the film mistakes economy for depth. Sometimes less really is less.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2021 | Watched: 2026-04-16
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Petite Maman (2021) on YouTube
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