'Big Girls Don't Cry' Review
Release Date: 11/27/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Drama.
MPAA: Not Rated.
Distributor: Blue Fox Entertainment.
The Verdict: A Must-See
The next millennial nostalgia-bait coming-of-age film has arrived in the form of Paloma Schneideman’s directorial debut: Big Girls Don’t Cry. Set in New Zealand in 2006, the film captures a time when instant messaging, mini box-shaped cell phones, and Puca shell necklaces ruled the teenage landscape before social media started rotting our brains. We follow Sid, a teenage girl starting her summer vacation, unknowingly on the verge of a painfully formative summer.
When Freya (a friend of Sid’s older sister) comes to stay with them, Sid develops a crush on her, sparking curiosity about her own sexuality throughout the summer. She also starts hanging out with a group of older, cool kids, which inevitably causes a rift with her closest friend. It was like watching a sapphic Kiwi version of Lady Bird, and I loved it.
Sid’s journey mirrors much of my own experience at 14. I know what it's like to get invited to the party finally, only to find out it’s nothing as you expected, while still desperately grasping for social acceptance. The way the cool kids talk to each other, and the way Sid awkwardly tries to defend herself by telling little white lies to seem cool. So many of these things feel deeply authentic to girls who grew up in this time, and the film takes a forgiving, gentle approach. Schneideman nails a very specific feeling for its target demographic, and it’s refreshing to see a film take the risk of aiming for something so niche and still hit the bullseye. Big Girls Don’t Cry is what I expected from Eighth Grade, and I’m glad it exists.
If you’re not quite ready to let summer go just yet and want to stay in the realm of teenage end-of-summer entanglements, this one might do the trick.
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