10 Movies That Caused A Public Backlash
6. Cuties (2020)
One of the most recent films on this list, this 2020 French film was marketed and distributed by Netflix and caused an absolute uproar.
It tells the story of a young girl who is torn between her traditional background and her friends who are in a dance group that "twerks" and competes in competitions. It also includes a segment where she sends explicit photos of her genitals on the internet.
While critics have praised it (with 86% of reviews being positive) there was an enormous issue when it saw release, due to the perceived sexualisation of pre-pubescent girls, the dances they performed and the outfits that they wore while doing it.
The advertising campaign that Netflix ran ended up generating a CancelNetflix hashtag and there were calls from government officials to pull the film due it possibly appealing to paedophiles. The poster features the young girls in revealing dance costumes, posing in what has been called a "provocative" stance.
The director stands behind her work, saying that the complaints are based on out of context clips and from people who haven't seen the film which she says is based largely on her own experience as a refugee coming to France and the contrast in lifestyles she encountered.