‘Frontal, confident and tender’: This nugget of ‘rare sensitivity’ is out in theaters

20,000 Species of Bees , which hit theaters this week, caused a sensation at festivals, especially Berlinale, where young Sofia Otero won the Silver Bear for Best Actress. Directed by Spanish director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, who makes his feature film debut for the occasion, this drama about the search for gender identity has also been very well received by the French press, with an average rating of 3.7 out of 5*.

What is it about?

Coco, eight years old, struggles to understand who she is. During a summer spent in the Basque country, she awakens to her singularity among the women in her family, who are themselves prey to suspicion. In a world with 20,000 different species of bees, there had to be an identity that matched the Coco…

What does the press think?

According to Les Fiches du Cinéma:

“Solaguren sensitively portrays the search for a little girl born in a boy’s body that deeply explores the notion of identity.” (Margarita Guerra) 4/5

According to L’Obs:

“Frontal, confident and tender, this fiction (a bit long) rejects the codes of thesis or militant fiction (no particular hostility to Coco’s life path) to complicitly capture the awakening of a body that dares to say what is deep.” (Xavier Leherpeur) 4/5

According to Le Journal du Dimanche:

“A beautiful and poignant story captured with infinite delicacy.” (Stephanie Belpesch) 4/5

According to Les Echos:

“A delicate film about the difficulty of being yourself on the edge of the world.” (Adrienne Gombo) 4/5

According to Les Inrockuptibles:

“Although the film occasionally sins by piling on melodramatic seduction effects, ‘20,000 Species of Bees’ delivers a sensitive scene, all alternating points of view and impressionistic touches.” (Bruno De Ruiso) 4/5

According to Télérama:

“Beyond the theme of transcendence, this Spanish feature film, amazing in its simplicity, questions the weight of the family framework.” (Guillemet Odicchino) 4/5

According to Cahiers du Cinéma:

“Weighed down in a way with figurative metaphors (the mermaid and the bee are mirrors of alternate identities), the film still manages, thanks to the fluidity of its choral writing, to break away from educational melodrama to allow the complex reality of family to emerge.” It is not reduced to a line, but emerges as a living tissue that has to constantly redefine itself.” (Eli Raufaste) 3/5

According to Critikat.com:

“The film avoids the risk of a programmatic narrative thanks to the presence of Sofia Otero, whose melancholy air recalls Anna Torrent in the 1970s. But there is another side to the medal: as soon as a young actor leaves, it is like rowing.” (Marin Gerard) 3/5

* On AlloCiné, from Friday 16 February and for 14 reviews.