3 Movies Like Samba (2014)

Mélanie Laurent both directed and wrote this, her fifth movie.

She offers an impressive display of deft film-making and honest, insightful storytelling. Charlie is a teenage high school student, there’s seemingly nothing unusual about her. When Sarah, a Nigerian girl, joins her school, they quickly form a transformative friendship.

Breathe sometimes veers to darkness, which helps to make its portrayal of the bond between two teenagers genuine, and unexpectedly fun.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Alejandro Albarracin, Anne Marivin, Camille Claris, Carole Franck, Claire Keim, Fanny Sidney, Isabelle Carré, Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge, Louise Grinberg, Louka Meliava, Marie Denarnaud, Morgan Perez, Radivoje Bukvic, Rasha Bukvic, Roxane Duran, Thomas Solivéres, Thomas Solivérès, Victor Assié, Vinciane Millereau

Director: Julien Lambroschini, Mélanie Laurent

Rating: Not Rated, Unrated

An electrifying portrayal of a girl growing up in a poor Paris suburb. This coming-of-age story follows Marieme, a girl struggling in high-school who learns that she will be rerouted out of academia and onto a track where she will learn a trade. Frustrated by the news and fearful of an abusive elder brother, she finds solace in a gang of girls from her neighborhood. Initially she decides against joining them but does so at the prospect of pursuing a crush. Her new friends take her into the center of Paris and to a more violent and crime-driven lifestyle. An undeniably grim movie, Girlhood compensates with an amazing character study - themes of identity and adolescent need for belonging are at the center of a type of a story that rarely ever gets any attention.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Assa Sylla, Cyril Mendy, Damien Chapelle, Djibril Gueye, Idrissa Diabaté, Idrissa Diabaté, Karidja Touré, Lindsay Karamoh, Marietou Toure, Nina Mélo, Rabah Nait Oufella, Simina Soumaré, Tia Diagne

Director: Céline Sciamma

Rating: Unrated