SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! Writer-director Paloma Schneideman is a graduate of Academy Award-winning Jane Campion’s “A Wave In the Ocean” film program, which is clear from the opening frames of her feature debut, Big Girls Don’t Cry. It is a personal journey of lust, adaptation, and rejection, experienced over one chaotic coming-of-age summer in New Zealand. I never thought a movie set in 2006 would make me feel nostalgic, but this coming-of-age drama did it well. What a time of transition. Looking at the phones and listening to dial-up internet as the picture faded in from black took this reviewer right back. Who would have thought we’d look back 20 years and lament a simpler time?
It is quite a genius move, then, for Schneideman to stage her scene in the period. The shifting sands beneath our feet as we’d be unwittingly pulled headfirst into the information age. Life was hard enough before everyone had a soapbox to shout from. Ask Sid Bookman (Ani Palmer), who is trapped in that nether region between Christmas, New Year’s, and a new school year. She’s ashamed of her father, a failed artist-turned-mower man, Leo (played brilliantly by Noah Taylor). Sid’s time is bolstered by her close friend, Tia (Ngataitangirua Hita); however, Sid is kinda bored with her lately. But, Sid becomes energized and aroused by a holiday house guest. This sexy, blonde American named Freya (Rain Spencer) is a university buddy of Sid’s older sister.
“…Sid becomes energized and aroused by a holiday house guest.”
Sid is at an age when everything is calling to her, whilst she struggles to find the right moves, rhythms, and codes to adopt in order to garner social acceptance in the era before hit, like, subscribe. Life was still territorial then. And a reputation still could proceed. But then, just like now, fame and infamy, there’s a fine line between them. Sid has to endure painful consequences for impetuous choices, feeling like she belongs. Coming from a broken home and a disheveled existence, hers is a heart that yearns, not simply to feel free, but to wallow in a warm, constantly caring embrace that is dependable. But they patched the road through the dark forest of growing up with broken dreams, broken hearts, and severed trusts. Because when you’re young and stupid, the aftermath is an afterthought. It’s the quick and direct satisfaction that you’re in search of. That’s until reality slaps you in the face, reminding you this life is a marathon, not a race.
If there’s talent coming out of the tap water, then the filmmakers, cast, and crew have had a healthy dose. Big Girls Don’t Cry is an extraordinarily mature first feature, with the choices of how much or how little to reveal measured to the sublime. The cinematography is realistic yet dreamy at the same time. The story’s themes are heartfelt and authentic, and told in a relatable way. Palmer is a magnet at the heart of this glorious movie made in New Zealand. Her co-stars are quite good as well.
Though the images in Big Girls Don’t Cry are dreamy and easy, the movie is about growing up. And this film reminds us that the bitterness of experience can quickly outweigh the sweetness and bliss of the moment. If drama, nostalgia for a simpler time, and a moving message are what you’re in search of, then look no further.
Big Girls Don’t Cry screened at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
"…heartfelt and authentic..."
