Review of Fat Girl (2001) by Rona M — 11 Jan 2008

For years, I've been meaning to see Breillat's movies - mostly 'cause of how fucked up I heard they were. Fat Girl did not disappoint.

Until its final moments, the film shows how emotionally destructive adolescence can be in a way I'd never seen before on film. It held no boundaries in making you want to throw up, stopping short of filming penetration in the sex/rape scenes. A film rarely makes its audience so uncomfortable.

I have trouble standing by the film's ending, though. Breillat seems more interested in giving her audience a heart attack than concocting an ending as emotionally complex as the rest of this otherwise compelling, stunning film.