Fat Girl (2001, France) You can try bracing for an inevitable shocking scene in this beautiful film, but it's unlikely you will see it coming. The pseudo foreshadowing within the last 20 minutes only resulted in being thrown for a loop. [continued below]

At only 12 years old, the highly intelligent and adorable Anais (the "fat girl," who really isn't that fat) is forced to tag along with her older sister, who hooks up with and is manipulated by an older guy. He claims his French isn't that great, but he actually sounds very fluent and easily seduces the naive Elena. Half the film centers on that relationship (a working title for the film had also been Two Girls, while the French title is To My Sister) and Anais is forced to bear witness to her sister's actions. In fact, there is a lengthy bedroom scene with those actions that should have been cut by about 10 minutes. Otherwise, Fat Girl is brilliant. While Elena expresses what she thinks is love and sex, the young Anais counters that with a profound statement about what her "first time" should be like. Basically, this is a unique, challenging film that needn't be ignored. [rating: 4.5/5] - weigh cool