As most people expected it would, the furor surrounding Netflix releasing Maimouna Doucoure’s Cuties has well and truly blown over after the French coming-of-age drama was added to the streaming service’s content library last month. In the buildup to release, though, there was an absolute firestorm around the movie, all of which stemmed from one ill-conceived and very tasteless poster by the marketing department.
From there, things snowballed at an incredible rate, with social media movements calling on people to cancel their Netflix subscriptions, petitions launched to have Cuties removed from the platform, director Doucoure being sent death threats despite having nothing to do with the marketing strategy and the company even finding themselves indicted in Texas for making it available to their customers.
After briefly appearing in the Top 10 most-watched list as folks rushed to see what all the fuss was about, Cuties was swiftly review bombed into oblivion and has now faded entirely from the public consciousness despite generating an incredible level of controversy as recently as five weeks ago. However, the acclaimed and award winning independent film could soon be back in the headlines and making a run at Oscar glory.
With awards season getting ready to kick into high gear, France’s selection committee have chosen a shortlist of five movies that mark the candidates for the country’s official submission in the International Feature Film category at next year’s ceremony, and Cuties is one of those five. And having won a directing award and been nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, don’t bet against it being selected to represent France at the Oscars when the nominations are officially announced.