The Little Sister (French: La Petite Dernière, lit. 'The Little Last One') is a 2025 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Hafsia Herzi. It is an adaptation of Fatima Daas's 2020 autofiction novel The Last One. It follows Fatima (Nadia Melliti) a young lesbian descendant of Algerian immigrants in Paris, who struggles to balance the expectations of her Muslim family. The supporting cast includes Park Ji-min, Louis Memmi, Mouna Soualem, and several non-professional actors. The film is a co-production between France and Germany.
The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 78th Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 2025, where it won the Queer Palm and the Best Actress prize. It was theatrically released in France on 22 October by Ad Vitam. It received seven nominations at the 51st César Awards, winning Best Female Revelation (for Nadia Melliti).
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Synopsis
Fatima, 17, is the youngest of three daughters in a French-Algerian family. Wanting to find her own path in life, she begins university studies in Paris, where she embraces new experiences. She struggles to develop her identity and balance emerging desires, including her attraction to women, while also maintaining a sense of loyalty to her family.
Production
The Little Sister is Hafsia Herzi's third feature-length film, following her Critics' Week debut feature You Deserve a Lover (2019) and her Un Certain Regard prize-winner Good Mother (2021). Herzi wrote the screenplay, which she adapted from Fatima Daas's debut novel The Last One (French: La Petite Dernière), which follows the life of a young Muslim woman as she explores her sexuality, religion, and relationships while living in Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb of Paris. Daas described the novel as a work of autofiction as the life of the main character, who is also named Fatima Daas, parallels Daas' own.
The film was produced by Julie Billy and Naomi Denamur for June Films, in co-production with Arte France Cinéma and Germany's Katuh Studio.
Release
The Little Sister was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 16 May 2025.
International sales are handled by mk2 Films. The film was theatrically released in France by Ad Vitam on 22 October 2025.
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of 41 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "The Little Sister is a restrained yet powerful coming-of-age drama, elevated by Nadia Melliti's standout performance and an empathetic directorial touch that makes its familiar themes feel deeply personal." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 based on 14 critics, which the site labels as "generally favorable" reviews.