Set in a strict, well-to-do boarding school in India in the ’90s, Girls Will Be Girls has all the hallmarks of your standard coming-of-age gauntlet: hormonal teens crushing hard; dirty tricks from clashing cliques; overachievers and ne’er do wells; and a self-contained setting where uniforms are mandatory, decorum is unimpeachable, and tradition is sacrosanct. But, somehow, Girls Will Be Girls makes these elements fresh, new, and alive. That starts with our protagonist, Mira (Preeti Panigrahi), who is head of the class and resented by her peers. In any other film she’d be the antagonist; here she is deeply relatable—as studious as she is conflicted. Add to that an emotionally sophisticated, carefully crafted narrative where Mira and her mother vie for the attention of a handsome, suspiciously mature new student, Sri. Anchored by a trio of exceptional performances—including scene-stealing work from Kani Kusruti, in a breakout year for the veteran actress—Girls Will Be Girls is a beautifully rendered film in every respect, a strikingly assured debut from Shuchi Talati that is overflowing with empathy. ~OO

Also screens Thursday, October 24 | 4 PM