Hope is one of the main pillars of Hollywood storytelling. What’s a story without hope? Hope that the protagonist will win, the final girl will take down the masked killer, and that rags will become riches. That’s what separates Agathe Riedinger’s feature debut, Wild Diamond, from most Hollywood movies. It, too, surrounds a person as they set out to achieve their dream, but hope isn’t the driving force or lifeline here — Riedinger frames it as the villain. What first seems like a basic coming-of-age story becomes a tale not of perseverance, but self-destruction in the name of glory.

‘Wild Diamond’ Follows a TikTok Influencer’s Quest For Fame

Liane (Malou Khebizi) is a 19-year-old amateur influencer living in poverty with her neglectful mother and impressionable younger sister. We meet her as she walks through fields and onto highways in five-inch heels, short shorts, and a belly top. It’s obviously a walk she does regularly as she stomps through her path, indifferent to the many obstacles in her way. She’s a seasoned shoplifter, selling perfume and tech products on the streets. At home, she makes TikTok dances in lingerie and reapplies heavy makeup. Liane wants fame, adoration, and for everyone to see her for her beauty. When she gets the opportunity to audition for a trashy reality TV show, it’s finally her chance to start a new life and become the star she’s always felt destined to be. Wild Diamond follows the days between the audition and finally hearing back from the exec, and how her hope of finally escaping her unfulfilling life is both a lifeline and a self-destructive force.

‘Wild Diamond’ Is an Accurate Portrayal of Poverty
Image Via Strand Releasing

Following young women living in poverty is a regular but not often well-handled trope in cinema. Just this year, billionaire heiress Nicola Peltz-Beckham cosplayed as an abused sex worker living in abject poverty, and it’s as insensitive as you would expect from the daughter of one of the richest men in the world. There is no Hollywood filter over Wild Diamond, nor is it afraid to fully commit to its depiction of the realities of the working class. We see Liane in loud, misfitting outfits that look like they were designed in 2007. Her eyebrows are overdrawn, her roots are grown out, and she gives herself a wonky tattoo that looks ripe for infection. Liane’s family’s financial situation is the springboard off which she catapults to a monomaniacal quest for success, one that feels just as maddening as it does intoxicating. Wild Diamond operates in both the very new wave of movies incorporating the ubiquitous presence of TikTok and the decades-old subgenre of class commentary.

Sean Baker is the king of portraying the day-to-day lives of sex workers, but Wild Diamond isn’t nearly as stylish or humorous as this year’s runaway hit, Anora. It feels more akin to the documentary style of his earlier film, Tangerine. Ridedinger captures Liane as she is marching from one place to another, with the conviction of someone who knows exactly where they need to be, despite Liane growing progressively more lost as the movie unfolds. It’s a stunning feature debut from Riedinger, who showcases an understanding of the importance of minor details in these stripped-back character studies. Liane is never defined by her poverty and obsession with fame, but they are certainly the foundations that led her on the path she finds herself on. Riedinger captures Liane with so much affection that we too can’t help but root for the young woman, and want her to hit a million followers on Instagram and make that shitty reality show, not because we think it’s good for her, but because we so desperately want to see her achieve what she believes she wants. But as her goal seems to get further out of reach, Liane never loses her drive, and the more she maintains hope, the more uneasy the audience becomes about what feels like inevitable disappointment.

Related ‘All We Imagine as Light’ Review: A Dour but Soulful Story of Connection and Belonging | LFF 2024 This slow-burn movie emphasizes humans’ basic need to connect with each other.

Similar to another buzzy movie of 2024, fellow French woman Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, Wild Diamond deals with a woman’s obsession with beauty and fame. And similar to the body horror hit, Wild Diamond isn’t trying to make some grand commentary on beauty standards. Liane doesn’t embark on a journey of self-discovery, ending with her taking off her makeup, cutting out her extensions, and enrolling in university. The movie doesn’t judge her for her values, because, unlike a lot of the people around her, she knows what she wants. She’s defiant in her vanity, and it’s clear that her looks have been her only source of capital. “The one who’s desired has the power,” Liane says, certainly a statement from someone who has had to grow up quickly.

Malou Khebizi Gives a Breakthrough Performance
Image Via Strand Releasing

Malou Khebizi gives a star-making performance as Liane. Something of a French Florence Pugh, she carries all of Liane’s baggage in every frame, from her mother’s abandonment to her fear of intimacy to her excruciating desire to be adored and seen as beautiful. “I’ll give my soul for beauty,” she says in the changing room with her friends, before dropping €600 for a rhinestoned dress, which is framed like a life achievement as big as taking out your first mortgage. But the real magic of Khebizi’s performance is how she plays this complex character, full of fears and dreams, with the flippant indifference of a teenager. The rage towards her mother and the skiddishness at the sight of any man pulls her back and repositions her as exactly what she is, a kid with big ambitions and even bigger fears.

Wild Diamond aptly captures the superficial and dizzying obsession with fame and status that the TikTok era has brought upon teens and young adults. For those who think the app’s presence in this story isolates them from this movie’s audience, Wild Diamond still has all the class commentary and social realism of a Mike Leigh movie. With Riedinger’s eye following Khebizi’s protagonist like her life is on the line if she doesn’t keep getting her follower count up, a young woman’s quest for fame is given the same weight and urgency as a bomb threat. It’s the rare movie that gives respect and consideration to a young woman who would be portrayed as a simple, superficial bimbo in lesser hands. This year has given us many movies that allow young women into complex character studies usually reserved for men or older characters, and Wild Diamond is easily one of the best.

Wild Diamond screened at the 2024 Subtitle Film Festival.

Wild Diamond is an energetic but stripped-back coming-of-age story for the TikTok age.ProsMalou Khebizi gives a star-making performance as Liane.Agathe Riedinger’s feature debut showcases a confident and affectionate directing style.The movie is able to bring in conversations of class and poverty without defining the characters by it.

Release Date October 9, 2024 Director Agathe Riedinger Cast Malou Khébizi , Idir Azougli , Andréa Bescond , Ashley Romano , Alexis Manenti , Kilia Fernane , Léa Gorla , Alexandra Noisier Runtime 103 Minutes