Cookie Queens Review: A Sweet, Staged, and Surprisingly Sharp Look at the Girl Scout Empire

Cookie Queens is a documentary operating on multiple levels. On the surface, it follows a diverse group of girls hustling during the infamous Girl Scout cookie season. Dig deeper, and it becomes a sharp commentary on capitalism and the exploitation of labor. After all, the Girl Scouts put the heavy lifting of their empire squarely on the shoulders of children, yielding them a mere $1.10 for each $6 box they sell. Beneath that corporate machinery lies a beautiful story about girlhood and growing up, told through a few distinct and vibrant personalities. It stands as one of the most delightful documentaries of the year. It feels more like a heartfelt coming-of-age dramedy than a traditional documentary.

Cookie Queens Review

The precocious young leads are what make the film work. Director Alysa Nahmias tells their story in a glossy, seemingly staged way that sometimes subtracts from the gritty realism expected from the medium. That aesthetic choice makes sense once you realize Prince Harry and Meghan produced it through their Archewell banner, giving the project a polished, commercial sheen. This approach results in an exciting and beautiful portrayal of young women that might be lost if unpolished honesty were the sole focus. If you’re a documentary purist, this heavy-handed staging might frustrate you. For those who love narrative movies alongside non-fiction, this theatricality is the most appealing aspect of the film.

Cookie Queens spans the six-week sales season when Girl Scouts move over a hundred million boxes of treats, generating nearly a billion dollars for their corporate overlords. The narrative treads a fine line between celebrating this unpaid labor and letting the audience acknowledge the absurdity of it all. The film avoids getting bogged down in cynical critiques, largely because the girls succeed in raising substantial funds for their troops. Their triumphs take precedence over the system’s difficulties. That doesn’t stop the subjects from being acutely aware of their situation, which allows the filmmakers to explore other fascinating aspects of their lives.

Take Olive, for example, who stands out as the highest-selling girl of the bunch. She possesses a surprising level of maturity, leaving you to gauge whether her intense drive is genuine or influenced by a momager pushing her to sell over twelve thousand cookies. Then there’s Ara, the youngest of the group. She’s an adorable, five-year-old dynamo with diabetes who pitches potential buyers with the ease of a seasoned salesman, all while yearning to create a sugar-free cookie for kids like her. Seeing her set up shop on a jogging path only to be ignored by fitness enthusiasts is both hilarious and heartbreaking.

I personally love Nikki’s story the most. She navigates the season alongside her older sisters, showcasing a level of family support that brought me to tears. The story of Shannon Elizabeth, dealing with her parents’ overwhelming panic over purchasing too many cookies to flip, carries a crushing financial undertone that the film explores with the right amount of levity. It feels like watching a miniature corporate thriller play out in a suburban living room.

Is Cookie Queens worth watching?

All of these aspects make Cookie Queens complex, funny, and deeply interesting. It falters in those moments where these girls seem too mature for their age, or where the situations they face feel carefully blocked and staged by the filmmakers. But if you’re willing to accept this as a movie about real girls going through real experiences, you’ll find something beautiful, exciting, and charming. Veracity be damned, it’s a joy to watch.

Cookie Queens hits theaters on August 7.

Cookie Queens Review: A Sweet, Staged, and Surprisingly Sharp Look at the Girl Scout Empire