User Reviews

This small independent film was made for peanuts (Filmed on a Canon 5D and just a handful of people in the crew) and it is probably unlikely to make any big impact on the box-office. However I'm sure it'll leave a mark on those few who will actually manage to see it.

Zoé Héran is absolutely wonderful as Laure, the 10 years old girl who's just moved into a new neighbourhood where nobody knows her and pretends to be a boy (Michaël) with her new friends. Her performance is one of the best of the year, and possibly among the best ever performances by a child: she not only perfectly captures that innocence that children of that age have, but at the same time she seems to have a deep understanding of the struggle and the pain of her character. Throughout the film she really acts as if she was a real boy in a way that's so believable that at some point I really started to wonder whether "she" was actually a real "he". The film knows that and it does play with you by stretching the lie as far as it possibly can, until it decides to show you the real truth in a beautifully handled scene where you do actually see briefly the girl naked. It's a fleeting moment and the film obviously doesn't linger on it, but it's enough to put our minds at rest so that we can carry on enjoying the rest of the story.

The director Céline Sciamma's ability to film children making it look real is incredible. It feels effortless as if the camera was one of the children themselves and we as the audience are left observing them playing in the forest as if we were spying on them, or as if it was all a documentary. Rarely I have seen scenes with such young children that feel so honest and real: the approach is subtle and light, the atmosphere is almost muted, dialogue to advance the story is used to a minimum and the silences are charges with meaning and intensity. This is a subject that rarely makes the news, let alone the movie theatres. And it's so refreshing not just to see it depicted in this film, but to have it told with such an understanding, honesty and open-mindedness. All this together with the stellar acting from little Zoé make the internal drama of Laure/Michaël even more poignant and powerful. Be warned, this is a slow film (a very short one too at only 82 minutes), that has "French independent" written all over it, from its pace, to its rough look and its lack of music score, but if you, like me, love films about children growing up, this sensitive, tender and never heavy- handed story might just melt your heart too.

I saw it months ago and I still remember it vividly, so it must have worked on me.

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Laure, the tomboy of the title, moves because of Dad's job to a new neighbourhood and has to negotiate the minefield of finding new friends. With her short-cropped hair and boyish looks, it is easy for Laure to pass herself off as a boy. So she does. Existing as Mikael, she digs a hole deeper and deeper for herself during summer holidays. With the start of school approaching, friendships made and romances embarked upon, something has to give.

The film works in large part due to the casting. Zoé Héran as Laure / Mikael is so convincing as a boy that when she does finally don a dress it just looks... wrong. A double for a young Sting, she has an easy charisma and strong expression that makes her every move unmissable. Mikael is befriended by Lisa, a precocious Jeanne Disson, and young love blossoms in bizarre circumstances. As strong as these two performances are, Malonn Lévana Malonn as Laure's little sister Jeanne steals every scene she is in. Given a secret to keep half-way through, she crackles and delights every time you see her and wonder if she can keep the confidence.

As delightful as the children are, the theme of a young girl yearning to be a boy is presented but hardly explored. The film is episodic, one summer in the life of a mixed up girl. Laure's reasons for taking things so far are never dealt with beyond surface levels, and no resonance to wider concerns in society are present. The narrative strains with such insubstantial fare, but never breaks. Fans of such coming-of-age tales as Stand By Me or Yamada's Village of Dreams will enjoy this tale.

Tomboy is a feel-good movie of a type we're unaccustomed to seeing: it doesn't end with killings or sex or a pile of money. It's a movie about children where the children aren't effigies of the adult audience, with knowing wrinkles and smart-aleck sneers carved on ten-year-old faces. It is the opposite. It's a movie that can help the hardened and scratched-up adult carapace melt away for 80-odd minutes. Through layers of paperwork and grime, we watch and we imagine remembering what it was like to feel protected and loved by two tall and wonderful beings. What it was like to come home to dinner. What it was like not knowing who you were.

The Tomboy is Laure, a 10-year-old girl whose family just moved to a leafy suburb. She has a summer to spend before school starts, and for reasons unclear even to herself, decides to fake it as a boy. Zoé Héran, the actress, is a remarkable performer and will be a remarkable French beauty in another decade, but in the film appears as a wiry, scrawny child who wears feminine clothes only on pain of motherly torture. She runs in the forest, scraps around with boys, and can get away with being on the "shirtless" team in the soccer game.

Here's something amazing about Héran's performance: I kept having to remind myself that she speaks. In fact, she probably has more lines than anyone else in the movie, but they seem ephemeral compared to the great work that silently goes on in her mind. The camera watches her think with such intensity and expression, and since this is not a dumb movie, we don't get a voice-over that explains the obvious. We know what she's thinking: how will I continue the deception on the field and in the lake? How will I prevent my family from finding out? And, in quieter moments, other thoughts, other sensations, attempts to understand things that she can feel but hasn't yet learned the words for.

Her self-discovery is framed by a supporting cast that includes tender and attentive parents, a cute little ball of energy for a younger sister, a neighborhood girl who's attracted to the mysterious stranger, and a colorful group of rambunctious but good-natured boys.

Tomboy was made for peanuts, and there's no telling what it would have looked like with a few million dollars to spend, but the feel and sound of it are perfect. In the day, the hiss and rustle of trees; at night, the taps and groans of the house in the wind. I watched it in a dark, dusty room on a New England January, and I could almost feel the sunlight on my own skin.

In the end, despite Laure's anxieties, this is a movie that shines with joy. A wide-open world of familial love, summer play, first romance, none of which is packaged to be bought or sold. None of that first-world paranoia, no fences and kidnappers and card readers and metal detectors. It's a picture of the days when half an hour of homework was a jail term, three months of summer were a lifetime, and childhood itself was a sky-blue eternity of invented games, skin-deep catastrophes and ineffable comfort at the steady hands of the people who wish us best.

P.S. Then again, we adults have our own joys, such as the dismal, acrid laughter at the stupidity of others. This movie didn't go unnoticed on the arch-conservative website The Free Republic, which claims that the main character is a lesbian (the word doesn't actually appear once in the script, and the director is on record saying she specifically wanted to avoid pigeonholing her protagonist). Of all the extraordinarily strong opinions expressed in the forum thread, not one appears to be informed by an actual viewing.

The discussion starts out by claiming that the movie "exploits small children to advance progressives' bizarre sexual agenda;" it takes a detour through gender reassignment surgery, underage sex and ends in a starkly pornographic debate about bestiality.

It's a trope that guardians of morality often have infinitely filthier and more disturbing minds under their helmets than the people whose work gives them shrieking fits. The debauched French have made a serene and charming movie about family and friends, whereas our self-anointed protectors of children's minds and bodies used it as a springboard into bottomless perversity. The moral: if you have a choice between reading a dour political site and watching a French children's movie, go with the movie.

It is not often that I remain seated after the credits role, but after watching this film, I just did not want to move. The film left me feeling so good about the beauty in this world and the love of a family, that I was content to just sit in my seat for a while.

The film takes on some challenging themes but does so with such beauty and craft that it gives you renewed belief in the good of the world. And the mesmerising relationship between the two sisters certainly reminds you of the very special and unmatched love between siblings.

The performance of the main character is brilliant but the star of the show is definitely the younger sister whose character portrayal is positively behind the years for such a young actress. Special mention must also go to the supporting character Lisa - again another young actress who's portrayal of an emotional and thoughtful young girl is quite beyond her years. These three young actresses are sure to be future stars.

I highly recommend this film to anyone and everyone!

"Tomboy" is a French coming-of-age drama featuring Zoe Heran as Laure, who has just moved to a new neighborhood and is looking for new friends. She sees the camaraderie among the boys and as a result decides to pretend to be a boy and tells everyone that she is Michael.

Michael becomes close to Jeanne(Malonn Levana), plays soccer, has water fights and swims with the other kids in what could be a typical summertime anywhere.

The child-actors, particularly Zoe Heran are very believable. Laure/Michael is on screen most of the time and is an actress to watch for in the future.

Zoe(Michael/Laure) is contrasted with a very feminine little sister illustrating how different even close siblings can be. Most directors don't edit enough, but this feature felt a bit short at 79 minutes. It is worth your time for Ms. Horan's performance.

It feels like a time gone by of dreamy focused, eternally youthful, summer days: running around in woods, water fights, wrestling, sitting out of football matches, Play-Doh spaghetti, and feeling too scared to stand next to the other boys to pee.

With an approach that is far more Boys Don't Cry than it is Mrs Doubtfire, and by hitting upon gender identity during pre-puberty, a lengthy and distancing make-up job can be avoided.

And so without a rubber nose nor silicone jaw in sight, little Zoé Héran is left stripped bare, literally, to "play boy", with performance alone. And her performance as Laure / Mikael is nothing short of genius.

Masculinity is a hard act to pull off, but pre-pubescent masculinity is such a fine and narrow ledge between forced and feminine that it's incredible that it feels so effortless for a ten year old actress. Compare this to Glenn Close and Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs, and they feel even more like Little Britain characters than they ever did tearing along the beach screaming "I'm a lady…" And they both got Oscar nominations…?

Zoe is surrounded by a cast of unbelievably naturalistic fellow children; her six-year old sister Jeanna, and the relationship they share is so intimate and convincing that every now and then I simply couldn't imagine there being a camera and film crew right up in their playful, cute as a button, faces.

Her burgeoning relationship with new neighbor Lisa, is as delightful as it is frightful, as you know that at some point there has to be a denouncement that Mikael is not all he seems – and for those of you that have experienced it, you thought that finding out your boyfriend was gay was tough?

Maybe, just maybe, it's because they're talking French that the performances and dialogue feel flawless – murmur in Parisian tones underneath sparse subtitles and I'm sold – or maybe it's because elsewhere they just don't grow 'em like they grow 'em in France.

The script, story, direction and cinematography are enviable, and throughout you hold a little silent prayer in your heart that it's not going to end up, like Brandon Teena, in a ditch.

When ten-year-old Laure moves to a Parisian suburb with her parents and younger sister, Jeanne, it is a difficult transition with a new neighbourhood to make home, new friends to find and a new school with which to contend. Although her parents clearly love her and Jeanne looks up to her as the ultimate big sister, Laure has issues of her own that isolate her from the world. Laure resists the stereotyping foisted upon young French girls and is content to run free in shorts and t-shirt as a tomboy and her parents seem at ease with her choice.

However, when she makes her first foray into friendship with a group of children who will soon be her peers at school, she introduces herself as Mickäel and they happily accept that she is a boy. Welcomed as part of the group of boys who swim and play football, Mickäel also forms a bond of friendship with Lisa (Jeanne Disson), a 'regular' girl, who sees in him a gentleness and sensitivity that is absent in the boys with whom she, too, has kicked around.

While never actually stated, the probability of Laure/Mickäel being (unnoticed, undiagnosed or just ignored) transgender is evident but writer/director Céline Sciamma prefers to take the gentler approach of studying social norms of gender types rather than a no-holds-barred sexual exploration.

Tomboy is a beautifully subtle film that is dialogue-light but filled with the language of silence and unarticulated glances. The three young principals are confident and natural in their performances and Sciamma appears content to sit back and let them play their parts fluidly and without strict direction. The relationship between Laure/Mickäel and Jeanne is particularly sensitively handled with the role of big sister meandering between the two according to circumstances.

There is little input from the parents, and they are credited simply as La mere and La père, but when the girls' mother steps into the scene her impact is immediate and stirs both judgment and understanding in the viewer.

While Tomboy suggests questions that could be asked, it stops short of dictating the answers and, instead, makes a suggestion that we may accept or condemn and, though some may find the subject matter uncomfortable, one hopes those very few who are attracted to this lovely film are not of the camp given to prejudice and fear-inspired anger.

Tomboy is a gentle film that deserves to be watched quietly and savoured in the company of gentle people.

The ten year-old Laure (Zoé Héran) and her six-year old sister Jeanne (Malonn Lévana) move to a Parisian suburb near the nature with their parents. Laure befriends the children in the neighborhood but for an unknown reason, she tells that she is a boy, Mickäel. Soon he becomes popular among the new friends and the teenager Lisa (Jeanne Disson) feels attracted by him. When Laure's mother, who is pregnant, discovers that her daughter had lied about her gender to the children, she takes an attitude.

"Tomboy" is a different story of childhood, with a tomboy that lures her new friends and becomes a popular boy. Zoé Héran and Malonn Lévana are amazing and have magnificent performances. Unfortunately the stupid attitude of Lisa destroys the story. Children are mean in this type of situation and a mother should never expose her daughter the way Lisa does. She should seek professional support for Laure and herself to understand whether the attention-seeking of her daughter was just a way to get new friends or whether she is a transgender girl to properly deal with the situation. Depending on the medical orientation, the family should even need to move to another neighborhood to protect her daughter. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Tomboy"

After seen this film I found some interesant comments of Céline Sciamma about her film.Céline Sciamma insists very much about the perception (le regard in French) that people may have about a person: Lisa thinks that Laure is a boy and all the "confusion" begins when Lisa asks Laure about her name and Laure answers "Mickael" !! From then the other children consider Laure as as boy. In this age some young girls like to play soccer,wear masculine clothes and people call them tomboys o garçon manqué in French: in most of these cases the experience is quite temporary.The performance of Zoé Héran as Laure/Mickael is remarkable.Also the other actors and actresses are very good.A very interesting story and therefore a very good film.

I watched this movie a few months ago, and I still think about it occasionally, so it did leave a mark for sure. It does have a lot going for it - very convincing performances by the child actors, fine cinematography, and an intriguing story line. That said, I am somewhat disappointed at how the movie treats the subject matter, perpetuating the "boys will be boys" and "girls will be girls" stereotypes. I understand that plenty of truth to the stereotypes, and it doesn't do any good to that things such as homophobia, transphobia, queerphobia and sexism do not exist, but for a movie that deals with the touchy subject of gender to be worthwhile, I feel it should view these issues with at least somewhat of a critical lens, and not merely paint the picture of "this is how things are" and leave it at that. "How things are" I see in real life and live in my own childhood. So, while not a bad movie by any stretch, it did feel sort of unresolved. And sad.

This film was a heartfelt film and had a great story and message. The film, cast, and all was wonderful. I recommend it to everyone. May God bless this film. If you haven't yet seen it go see or purchase the DVD because this film will move you and I love how the message brings the film alive. This film has it's moments and it will bring tears to your eyes throughout the entire film I recommend it no matter what if you see it you'll keep watching it over and over again. I have. No words, and nothing else to say about this project. This film is 100% wonderful in many ways. This film will open up doors for you and it'll show how much a child encounters many things and the message will bring you something to share in a wonderful way. I've never seen a film like this before and it's my first time and I really enjoyed it and I know you will too.

The actors in this film are amazing. Its incredible because in an interview Celine Sciamma said that the lead character Mikael/ Laure, played by Zoe Heran, was found by chance and not through typical casting agencies which proved to be absolutely perfect for the role. I like the lack of music throughout the whole film. It leaves it up to you to assess the situation in each scene, the emotions felt by the characters and the intensity of those emotions. I suppose this is a very prevalent feature in the majority of French films which I absolutely love. The film revolves around the experiences and encounters of adolescents, which has sort of a stripped back element of innocence that makes it impossible not to become invested. The storyline follows the lead character's discovery of self identity, the conflicts of the film is driven by complications of "how people and things should be" that we can see are already planted in most of the other children's idea of things. One watches this film and finds that, there is no fault in any of the characters. 9 out of 10 because this film questions so much revolving perception related to identity, and at the same time challenges the limits of love.

Gender stereotypes are very powerful in our society, and in Celine Sciamma's sensitive film, we see the story of a young girl who prefers to identify as a boy. The film's strength is that it doesn't look from a forced viewpoint of trans-sexualism, but simply tells a tale of someone who doesn't fit in with the role she is expected to play. It's nicely judged, although quiet, and an interesting light on the way that, even as children, we put pressure on each other to conform, adapt and survive in what is sometimes a hostile world.

A young girl moves to a new community as a boy

Starring Zoe Heran

Written and directed by Celine Sciamma

This is another short but pretty mesmerizing French movie with subtitles.

It's an oddball movie. A gentle and quirky tale of a young girl's search for her own identity. It kept my interest all the way.

No car chases. No special effects. Just a decent story that gives a unique insight into a child's life.

I liked it.

7.5/10

TOMBOY is a rare gem of a film. Writer/Director Céline Sciamma has created a story that is as genuinely tender about a subject that is becoming more discussed - transgender journeys - that in addition to being a film of brilliance it also demonstrates that in many ways, children deal with variations of normal better than adults. Sciamma presents this fact in such a subtle manner that it is only in retrospect that the impact of the film is comprehended.

A very loving family - the pregnant mother (Sophie Cattani), the tender father (Mathieu Demy), and two daughters - have just moved into a new neighborhood during the summer months. The younger daughter Jeanne (Malonn Lévana) is full of joy and creativity and is devoted to her older sister Laure (Zoé Héran - an extraordinary young actress). Laure dresses as a boy and going out to meet the new neighbors changes names to Michaël. Though shy and obviously fearful of how the others will perceive, Michaël is for all intents and purposes a boy. He joins in games with the other boys, meets a young girl Lisa (Jeanne Disson) who obviously is infatuated with Michaël, and retaining 'his' nature as a boy he enhances his swimsuit with a creation of clay so that he will appear male to all. Lisa visits Michaël but only Jeanne is home and when Lisa asks for Michaël, Jeanne intuitively covers for Michaël. Jeanne thus wins Michaël's trust and is allowed to accompany him when he goes out to play with his new friends. Jeanne is happy to be a part of Michaël's secret. But when a fight occurs as Michaël struggles with Rayan (Rayan Boubekri) in defense of Lisa, Rayan's mother confronts Michaël's mother and Michaël's secret is out. With cruel lack of insight the mother makes Michaël wear dresses now and it is this act that destroys Michaël's new identity and the problems that follow are best resolved among the children.

The beauty of the film is that it is almost entirely concerned with the interaction of children: the adults have only momentary roles. Céline Sciamma appears to be saying that most children pass through stages of gender questions. She is not championing transgender roles, she is merely offering us a very sensitively drawn picture of how confusing moving form childhood to adulthood can be. Zoé Héran's performance is stunning as his the performance of her 'little sister' Malonn Lévana. Young actor Mathieu Demy (son of director Agnès Varda and Jacques Demy) is a true discovery. But the film's genius is Céline Sciamma. We will be hearing more bout this gifted artist.

Grady Harp

It was a nice try and such a good intention shedding a light on sexual identity in childhood. The topic itself is specific, but if it is stretched to confused state of identity, it can be universal and applicable. The way the director tells the story is a little bit boring but relaxed, natural, and introspective. However, all the events happening after the revelation are not fair to Laure and the audience. I was appalled by how mom treats this matter so lightly, how friends bully and harass Laure after revelation, and especially how the movie sketches those behaviors as okay. Also, Sciamma wraps up the movie hastily at the ending while she drags on the middle part of Laure wanting to be a boy. She fails to pace the whole movie efficiently.

It isn't often that I enjoy movies based around children, but it was impossible for me to hate this one. French films have always had a sense of honesty that I value and Tomboy did not disappoint in that aspect. Taking a serious topic and putting it in the perfect of a child was genius. Almost everything about this movie was completely fulfilling. The story is so captivating that I found little time to focus on technical aspects of the film. The emotion was spectacular in a simple and childish way that reminds me of being younger. This movie would have been nearly perfect if the story had been properly finished. The ending was very unsatisfactory and left so much to be wanted for such an amazing film. Unfortunately because the ending was so hollow I can't give this movie an extremely high rating, but I definitely recommend it.

Complete waste of time. Probably one of the worst movies of all times. What was announced as a social critical movie turns out to be 120 minutes without a plot, without storyline, without credible characters but with unbelievable lengths. As if someone left the camera running while some happy family life goes on. Child stretches hand out of the driving family-car for two minutes - cut - child sits on daddy's lap, allowed to help with the steering - a few left and right turns - cut - kids play away in the living room - another three minutes filled - cut - family has supper together - still no sign of a story - camera sneaks backwards out the kitchen - cut - and so on. Eventually one sees what one knew beforehand: Tomboy is really a girl. Does this exhilarate the movie in any way? Not in the least. The scene is followed by more insights in this child's life. Scenes on the playground, in school, at home. And so on and on and on. Definitely a favorite for the yawn award!