Tomboy review

Tomboy (U, 82 mins)
Director: Celine Sciamma
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Young Michael has just moved to a new Paris neighbourhood, and he quickly goes about making a bunch of new friends. But Michael is really Laure, and the longer she goes without revealing the truth, the more difficult it will be for them to accept her as a girl. It’s a simple setup for a wafer-thin but endearing drama, during which not a great deal actually happens, as the kids play and fight and do all the things that children do. But every one of them is a fully realised and very well drawn character, and it’s held together by the naturalistic work of all the fine young cast, though special mention should go to the quite wonderful film debut performance of Zoé Héran as Michael/Laure.