By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.29 cats
Director: Alysa Nahmias
Year: 2026
Running time: 91
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt38503564/
Peter says: “I’m not sure if other countries experience anything similar, but Girl Scout Cookies are a BIG DEAL in America. Hordes of wee little girls station themselves outside of grocery stores and local businesses, selling boxes upon boxes of cookies – and ask just about anyone and they’ll tell you their favorite. Personally, I like Thin Mints just out of the freezer – such an addicting, refreshing sweet treat!
“The Sundance-premiered documentary Cookie Queens explores this phenomenon in ultra-cute and quietly poignant fashion by following a number of top-selling ‘cookie queens,’ pressured by parents and themselves to be the top earners of their troops, selling literally thousands of boxes of cookies to try and win various prizes.
“The group of girls these documentarians captured are a filmmakers’ dream: sweet, driven, naive, and trying so hard to be “grown up” in a world that demands they do so faster than needed. They come-of-age before our eyes, being indoctrinated into a capitalist, entrepreneurial system of inventories and bottom lines while they’re still just little goofballs with names for their stuffed animals.
“I teared up multiple times throughout this – the sheer humanity on display, from one girl trying SO HARD to hold up her sisters’ legacy of the top sellers, to another trying to earn enough for the otherwise too-expensive ‘Cookie Camp,’ to one tiny, adorable diabetic girl who literally opts into physical training sessions Rocky-style to be able to push her wagon full of cookies on her own.
“A fascinating microcosm of American life, I found Cookie Queens to be not just a surface-level ‘sweet film,’ but one that indirectly lets you reflect on the question: What exactly ARE we teaching our next generation is important?
“4.5 out of 5 Cats! đș”
Eliza says: “First off, there was an irony in the title, given that Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Dutchess of Sussex were executive producers. I liked that. Just a little fun tidbit that added to the film for me.
“The movie, directed by Alysa Nahmias, followed four Girl Scoutsâ Olive(12), Nikki(9), Shannon Elizabeth(8), and Ara(5), from different places in the US. I started my Girl Scout career as a daisy scout in kindergarten, and later graduated to a brownie scout until end of elementary school. I can remember performing with my troop for a talent show badge.. we wore green pants and shirts and had daisy petals on a headpiece that surrounded our faces. Thankfully, we were not encouraged to later dress as brownies when advancing to brownie scout. (Haha). I felt the most kinship with Shannon Elizabeth, as I also had an interest in Girl Scouts and karate simultaneously as a young girl. Ara, the 5 year old daisy scout, was hilarious and absolutely precious. A highlight of the documentary.
“It did seem quite scripted in places. Iâd have enjoyed a more organic approach, but understand that with kids maybe there has to be more direction in general. What it lacked in that area, it made up for in wholesomeness. It was so cool to see how things had changed since I was a scout, and which things remained the same. I also had a newfound appreciation for not having had the same pressure put on us to sell, back then. It couldâve been that I was lucky to have a laid back group, but I donât remember selling more than a couple hundred at most. It still remains a bright spot in my childhood, thankfully not tainted by the feeling that I was forced into âchild laborâ as one of the girls joked in the film. I do wonder what the gateway percentage is for the Girl Scout to MLM sales pipeline. I didnât really think as a child that I was doing something like Avon or Mary Kay… but it shares its similarities and both are marketed to girls/women.
“I came into this movie with high hopes, and it was really a fun watch. I was glad to not leave disappointed.”
“4.5/5 cats”
Chris says: “Iâd be hesitant to trust anyone who doesnât like Girl Scout Cookies, so I understand its mass appeal as a documentary subject; my expectations, however, were moderate at best. Would there be enough story and dramatic weight to sustain an entire feature about four girls from different backgrounds selling Thin Mints, Trefoils and Peanut Butter Patties over one season?
“Happily, Cookie Queens is as charming as one could hope and far deeper than one might expect. Director Alysa Nahmias deploys the tried-and-true formula pioneered by Jeffrey Blitzâs Spellbound over twenty years ago, cutting back and forth between a few primary subjects all working on a common task. Where this film varies is that theyâre not necessarily competing against each other; instead, each subject has a personal goal in terms of how much to sell. For precocious overachiever Olive (age 12), itâs 5,000 boxes (which she continues to increase as she sells that amount and more.) Little Ara (age 5), on the other hand, sets a more realistic goal (for her) of 45 boxes. Nikki (age 9) and her much older sisters all want to sell enough to earn money for the three of them to travel to Europe. Meanwhile, Shannon Elizabeth (age 8) just wants to sell enough to attend summer camp but has limited resources to do so compared to some of the other girls.
“As these four narratives develop, they touch upon themes of sisterhood (Nikki), societal (and self) pressure (Olive), economic hardship (Shannon Elizabeth) and health-related issues (Ara). With each subject, Nahmias also focuses on both the various day-to-day struggles and often transformative wonder of simply being a kid. One roots for each of them because one comes to understand their hopes and fears via their backgrounds, environments and personalities. Crowd pleasing films occasionally get a bad rap for viewing everything through rose-tinted lenses; with humaneness and some nuance, Nahmias pinpoints unexpected substance in her subjects along with ample heart. 4 cats
“(Opens theatrically this August)”
Julie says: “My favorite doc of the film festival. COOKIE QUEEN follows 4 very different girls and their families with their own personal goals in selling girl scout cookies. The stories were touching, amusing and heart breaking at times.
“What the viewer finds out right away is that these girls and their families order and pay for the cookies up front and must sell them or be left with non-returnable cookies. Some of these girls order massive, jaw dropping  amounts of cookies! This is not the way that most of us sold girls scout cookies back in the day, and while not explained in the movie, it’s the troop that decides the process. I am not sure how long it has been this way but I am guessing it’s a newer way of doing things. We also find out up front that girl scouts sell 8 million dollars worth of cookies a year. The details come out later as to where this money goes.
“The movie touches on coming of age, thinking outside of the/one’s box, class/geographic differences, Â parents pushing their kids versus encouraging versus letting them decide what to do on their own, how girls operate in this economy and the idea that a girlâs appearance/cuteness factor can make a difference in sales. You can’t help but root for all of them of course. Itâs a satisfying, informative and entertaining ride.
“In addition to an engaging story from beginning to end, the use of music was fantastic. 4.95 Cats“
Michael says: “And I was right, COOKIE QUEENS is a crowd-pleasing doc, one that makes you wonder why it hadnât been made already. The film dive into the well-known American organization, the Girls Scouts of America, and more specifically, the Girl Scout cookie sales that happen every year that raises money for said organization. I am sure most everyone has their favorite kind of Girls Scout cookie, and with little girls ranging from 1st grade to high school, youâve got a pretty adorable hook as we watch four families, scattered around the country, set their goals, and spend several weeks selling cookies. (If they donât meet their goal, they have to pay for the unsold inventory themselves, so there is quite an incentive there.
“From the youngest, Ara, who lives with diabetes, and does pilates to keep her body strong, to the most industrious, Olive, who sets a record-breaking goal that seems unattainable, the four girls and their families are eminently watchable and entertaining. The film dips into commercialism, capitalism, class-consciousness and labor rights, all in a way that is digestible and fun.
“My one quibble is that itâs a fairly formulaic documentary, one that really took off back in 2002 with Jeffrey Blitzâ SPELLBOUND. Itâs a formula that works, but it would be nice to see more films that break out of that formula when telling their story. 3 1/2 cats
“Screened at the Brattle Theatre, Friday, 4/24
“Independent Film Festival Boston”