Netflix has apologized after the early promotional materials for its forthcoming film release Cuties was criticized for sexualizing 11-year-old girls.
The poster, available above, is a stark departure from that used to promote the film at Sundance earlier this year (where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award). The film was directed by Maïmouna Doucouré and follows a young Senegalese Muslim girl who joins a dance crew in France.
The poster, available above, is a stark departure from that used to promote the film at Sundance earlier this year (where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award). The film was directed by Maïmouna Doucouré and follows a young Senegalese Muslim girl who joins a dance crew in France.
Netflix has since updated the promotional materials for the film and issued an apology. "We're sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for this film," a representative told Deadline. "This was not an accurate representation of the film so the image and description has been updated."
In addition to the poster, the dance crew has been criticized for twerking in the film — a dance move that many consider inappropriate for the underage actors.
A petition for Netflix to remove the film is heating up, with tens of thousands of signatures as of press time. "There is no need for this kind of content in that age group, especially when sex trafficking and pedophilia are so rampant!" the petition reads. "There is no excuse, this is dangerous content!"
For now, Cuties is still scheduled to be released on September 9.