Review: ‘An Easy Girl’ is a Beautiful Romance Between a Girl and Life

You can currently stream “An Easy Girl” on Netflix. 

“An Easy Girl” (French: Une fille facile) is a French coming-of-age tale written and directed by Rebecca Zlotowski. The film tells the story of Naima, a teenager living on the French Riviera. She has entire the summer to figure out her future when her cousin Sofia arrives out of the blue. Quickly, Naima’s summer becomes centered around learning about the world through Sofia’s unique perspective. With the calming, romantic sounds of acoustic guitar serenading the girls’ summer of indulgence; “An Easy Girl” is a romance film, but the love is between a girl and life.

“An Easy Girl”: A Story About Beautiful People and Beautiful Places

As a celebration of beauty, “An Easy Girl” employs beautiful cinematography that wonderfully captures the charm of the landscape and the intimacy of interpersonal moments. This film favors extreme wide angles where the camera slowly pans out even further.

Set in Cannes (the southern France), there is so much beauty to be captured and the camera seems to be constantly trying to take it all in. The lens is more often than not in movement even if it isn’t always noticeable. Thanks to cinematographer Georges Lechaptois, the unique flair is in full display here, allowing the camerawork to enhance the visual language of the picture.

Scene from An Easy Girl. Photo: Les Films Velvet (Ad Vitam), 2019

When Women Write Women

While “An Easy Girl” is a movie that portrays all its characters with love, the heart of the film is Sofia. Her spectacle is both in her beauty and her hedonistic lifestyle, neither of which the film judges. The fake lips, the heavily made-up face, the dyed hair, the scantily clad outfits—Sofia is flashy and this attracts exactly what she seeks. She is neither confused nor desperate like how outsiders may want to portray her. Conversely, the movie clearly shows us Sofia is someone who shapes her life to be exactly what she wants it to be. She doesn’t allow outside perception or expectation negatively affect her.

The film also firmly establishes Sofia as a role model for anyone. A natural go-getter, she identifies her desires and then takes them, ensuring that she is never in a state of want. She is never hungry; she is always full. Furthermore, the film never portrays her as a bimbo. She’s smart and perceptive to the emotions of those around her. She remains calm, never fretting when things go wrong. And as she deals with her cousin, Sofia shares her gifts and imparts wisdom to her. She is a character full of substance, instead of liking sex to constitute her entire personality.

With Zlotowski behind the screenplay and the camera, this is what happens when women write women.

A Film That Celebrates Youth and the Freedom It Offers

Naima really looks up to Sofia and it is clear why. Naima is directionless. This is not a terrible thing—she’s sixteen! Her confusion with life, goals, and desires are understandable. However, she quickly confuses attempting to be like her cousin for pursuing any real goal. Sofia’s lifestyle is likely not the one for Naima, but she wants to be like her anyway. There is a piece of Sofia’s life that she is meant to have. The problem is that Naima is unsure of what that piece is, so she attempts for all of it instead. She blows off her previous desires (cooking and acting) for a chance at Sofia’s.

What Naima ultimately is looking for is freedom. Both her mother and Sofia separately give Naima lessons on freedom that she must internalize and act upon. Figuring out how to do that is part of the confusion of youth, and “An Easy Girl” understands it just as much. For better or worse, this is about Naima’s romantic summer of discovery.

Scene from An Easy Girl. Photo: Les Films Velvet (Ad Vitam), 2019

On the Subject of Sexuality Amid Society’s Preconceived Notions

Sofia is a sexual being and this is in direct contrast to Naima. Experiencing Sofia’s lifestyle becomes her sexual awakening. She had never before considered the degree to which she wants sex and with whom. Women assume the society expected default of not wanting sex (“to not be a slut”) but also wanting sex just enough (“to not be a prude”). It’s an arbitrary balancing act that most young women find themselves attempting without any conscious consent to participation. Sofia introduces her to the possibility of rejecting that tightrope act and wanting sex exactly as much as anyone else would want it.

Films concerning youth tend to oversexualize young girls. Naima is 16, and is still a child. “An Easy Girl” acknowledges and respects that. The film manages to be about sex and its themes without throwing a young girl into something inappropriate. However, without spoiling anything, this summer romance film still has real lessons for Naima (and, by extension, the audience). And that’s something “An Easy Girl” has in store for us all.