Little – Review

Directed by: Tina Gordon

Runtime: 109 minutes

As I often say, I love reliving some of my childhood trauma, so I jumped at the chance to review Little, directed by Tina Gordon, and get the chance to see if this film really nails how truly sucky being thirteen is.

Little stars (and was first created by) Marsai Martin as the thirteen-year-old version of our main character, Jordan Sanders. We’re introduced to the intelligent and precocious Jordan just as she suffers a humiliating defeat at the hand of a school bully. Somewhat traumatised, Jordan vows never to be the victim again and when we next see her, now ‘big’ and played by Regina Hall, she is the successful but tyrannical, selfish and closed off CEO of a major tech firm. She is feared, reviled but respected, especially by her long-suffering assistant, April (Issa Rae). However, after screaming at the wrong magical little girl, Jordan is transformed back into her 13-year old self-just days before an important pitch meeting that would determine the future of her business.

Little’s “the protagonist is transformed/transported into a different body/universe and has to do XYZ to get back” premise is a bit clichéd…okay, very clichéd. I truly hoped that something would happen during the film to subvert that expectation but unfortunately, it was all very paint by numbers, predictable and at times very boring. I nearly committed the biggest movie sin of scrolling on my phone but was unfortunately deterred by the night vision goggle-clad security guard in the cinema who was ready to throw out any patrons who even attempted it.

The film was probably saved by the great comedic performances of its cast—particularly Rae who made every nearly every line memorable and every wide side eye a hilarious punch line. Martin was also pretty funny but I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was a child playing at being an adult rather than an adult playing at being a child. Still, she leaned into scenes that would’ve sent childhood me into a fit of uncontrollable giggles with nothing more than a raised brow, so hats off to her. Hall, unfortunately, was a little inconsistent. Her physical humour in expressing the older Jordan’s tyranny was always funny, but sometimes a bit too much. Later in the film, I felt like her talents really were able to shine as she took a much more subdued approach.

I also struggled to understand the tone of the film. Little is definitely not a children’s film but you’d be forgiven for thinking so considering how it has been marketed. I think a stronger film would have been able to lean to either completely G-rated and be hilarious or hit that M rating and take more risks instead of the kind wishy-washy middle ground that it was. Plus, there was a super weird trans joke that just wasn’t funny or necessary. When will they learn…

So Little fell a little short in a lot of areas but one thing it did do right was hit the nail on the head in terms of what means to feel powerless, whether you’re a nerdy middle-schooler, a lowly assistant or just having a bad day. I think it hit that sentimental note almost right. The film had a good message that I think a lot of people regardless of age can appreciate.