Fat Girl (2001)

AKA: À Ma Soeur!; For My Sister
Directed by: Catherine Breillat
Starring: Anais Reboux (Anais), Roxane Mesquida (Elena), Libero De Rienzo (Fernando), Arsinee Khanjian (Mother)
Country: France, European Cinema
Language: French (English Subtitles)
Runtime: 01:56:49
Genres: Obesity, Siblings-Family, Rape-Women, Teen-Oriented, Voyeur

Plot – Spoilers:
Sisters Anais and Elena are vacationing in France with their parents. Anais is the younger fat one who is bullied by the older and petite Elena. The parents are cut off from the girls and caught up in their own mindless stuff and so the girls roam around the beach town, often bickering with each other. Elena is conscious of her figure and genuinely repulsed by excess food, especially when she sees it being stuffed down her little sister’s mouth.

Rejection at home and outside has helped Anais understand human nature well beyond her years and she often has opinions on Elena’s behaviour especially around men. There are however honest moments of bonding between the sisters and they feel a connection despite their glaring external differences.

One boring afternoon, the girls meet a young Italian law student Fernando at a cafe and he sets his sights on Elena’s virginity…

Fat Girl has extended scenes of pre-coital chatter and manipulation that are so well-acted and naturally portrayed, we almost feel like voyeurs peeping into a bedroom.

Random Thoughts on the Ending
Anais gets what she wanted – losing her virginity to an unknown man. Perhaps she refuses to accuse him of rape for this reason. It is also possible that she feels a bit of relief that he took down the two people in the world she had a hate-love equation with.