Big Girls Don't Cry Review [MIFF 2026]

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In a coastal New Zealand town during the summer of 2006, 14-year-old Sid experiments with rebellion, online identity and queer desire while trying to gain acceptance from older teenagers.

Directors: Paloma Schneideman

Writers: Paloma Schneideman

Tara Canton, Sophia Kirkwood-Smith, Rain Spencer, Ani Palmer, Beatrix Rain Wolfe, Noah Taylor

Cinematographer: María Inés Manchego

Editing: Chia Hsu, Cushla Dillon

Music: Cam Ballantyne

Distributed by: N/A

Release Date: N/A

Platform: MIFF 2026

Performances from Ani Palmer and Rain Spencer are the standouts

Growing up at the start of the internet age and not knowing how to navigate your own queerness is at the heart of Big Girls Don’t Cry, the feature-film debut from New Zealand filmmaker Paloma Schneideman.

There are two ways you could take this film: at a surface level, it’s about a fourteen-year-old girl growing up and spending the Christmas holiday break with her; the other is about growing up queer and not having anyone to turn to about your own queerness. I think it’s very evident that the film is the second, though I do think those with queer-blinders on will miss the point.

Sid (Ani Palmer) is spending her Christmas break experimenting, trying to fit in with the cool girls, and falling in with groups of older men who should know better. Her father (Noah Taylor) is a depressed yard cleaner who isn’t achieving his hopes and dreams of earning his arts degree, and her sister (Tara Canton) has just brought home her friend, Freya (Rain Spencer), for the Christmas holidays.

Though at first she doesn’t love Freya taking away from the time with her sister, it’s evident between her growing attention to her, the older blonde girl, the fascination with the cool-bitchy blonde girl she wishes found her as interesting, and, in one of the films more not-so-but-somewhat subtle moments the camera moves slightly to the bikini model in a poster, not the topless guy: Sid is queer-questioning. She is unsure about her sexuality, her identity, and it’s all hitting her at an age where trying to become who you are is already very confusing

The early 2000’s are an odd time for all of this—it’s also wholly disheartening that MSN and cool phone cases are being used as a nostalgic throwback, almost like a weird period-piece moment. I feel older every second.

The performances from Ani Palmer and Rain Spencer are the standouts here. The small moments they spend discussing life, and when Freya tells Sid she knows she is the “cool kid,” give her the vibe of a cool big sister she wishes she had.

What Sid doesn’t have is a guide queer person, neither in her life, nor on her social media, nor on television or film. Not in the time period this film is set in: yes, things have come a long way. Social media and more queer programming and films have given more queer kids now the opportunity to find people to relate to and connect with online, fortunately.