In “Tomboy,” filmmaker Céline Sciamma’s (“Water Lilies,”) second feature, a family with two daughters, 10-year-old Laure and 6-year-old Jeanne, moves to a new suburban neighborhood during the summer holidays. With her Jean Seberg haircut and tomboy ways, Laure is immediately mistaken for a boy by the local kids, and decides to pass herself off as “Mikael.”  Finding resourceful ways to hide her true self, Laure takes advantage of her new identity, as if the end of the summer would never reveal her unsettling secret. Céline Sciamma brings a light and charming touch to this contemporary coming-of-age story, which is also about relationships between children, children and parents, and the even more complicated one between one’s heart and body.

As a character piece Tomboy hits every mark.  As a reflection on gender identity in children, and how one chooses their identity in the year's to come it is a triumph. (Film Fracture)

It’s a rare trick to craft a film so uplifting, so powerful, yet remain completely comitted to authentic human emotions and an admirable absence of audience manipulation. (Flickfeast)

1hr. 24min NR