These Girls (2006)

73% of critics liked it
(11 reviews)
51% of users liked it
(3,413 ratings)

Teenage girls left to fend for themselves on the streets of Cairo are profiled in this documentary from Egyptian filmmaker Tahani Rached. In El-Banate Dol, orphaned and homeless girls share the grim facts of their daily lives -- they have little money, nowhere to stay, are frequently the target of… More Teenage girls left to fend for themselves on the streets of Cairo are profiled in this documentary from Egyptian filmmaker Tahani Rached. In El-Banate Dol, orphaned and homeless girls share the grim facts of their daily lives -- they have little money, nowhere to stay, are frequently the target of rapists, and are often scarred facially by their attackers who believe the girls are to blame for the crimes committed against them. Some have been left with children by their boyfriends, who then shun the girls for bringing them shame in the form of illegitimate babies. With few options and fewer prospects, the girls frequently blot out their misery by sniffing glue or taking pills, though a few older women try to give them the moral support they need to avoid such temptations. El-Banate Dol follows the lives of these young women without sentimentalizing or sensationalizing their plight, but depicts the severity of their tragedy by allowing audiences to observe their lives at face value. El-Banate Dol (aka These Girls) received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 8 min.
Directed By: John Hazlett
Genres: Documentary, Drama, Art House & International, Comedy, Special Interest

In Theaters: May 1, 2006 Wide
On DVD: May 16, 2006
Studio: Ardustry Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Jay Weissberg, Variety
Skillful, tight editing reveals the volatile patterns of behavior, shifting suddenly from fights to confessions, dancing to despair, yet in the end the girls are always fiercely supportive of each other.
Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter
A rousing documentary on the street children of Cairo, These Girls is an agonizing and uplifting depiction of street survival at its most daunting.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Can a yarn without credibility, can a comedy without laughs, can characters without a centre, can direction without discernment, add up to a movie?
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Fun precisely because it allows its characters to have theirs.
Ken Eisner, Variety
This summer-fling comedy turns out to be as generic as its title suggests.
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
Director Tahani Rached's documentary These Girls exudes empathy and respect for its destitute Egyptian teenage subjects' plight.
Jon Popick, Planet Sick-Boy
You can't make a movie about the Boogey Man without showing him at least once.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
Director John Hazlett imbues the film with all the style of a movie-of-the-week, something that's reflected in the routine, predictable storyline.
Mark Palermo, Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
It has similar observational humour toward young life as past Canadian productions My American Cousin and New Waterford Girl.
Louis B. Hobson, Jam! Movies
What could have been a rather nasty dark comedy is a wildly funny satire on the art of seduction.
Jim Slotek, Jam! Movies
A surprisingly likeable, albeit morally ambivalent little film.