It would be understandable if it only occurs to you midway through that Little Girl isn't actually a narrative feature but a gorgeously made documentary. Director Sébastien Lifshitz approaches his main character of Sasha not just with respect and empathy for her identity, but with a dedication to bring out the euphoria of feeling comfortable in one's skin. As a result, Lifshitz seems to intentionally avoid any and all scenes where Sasha may face discrimination (especially at school), but even if this choice occasionally make the material feel thin, getting to see Sasha gradually learning to express herself more—or even just just seeing her enjoy a quiet moment on her own—is more precious than anything.

Of course, a movie like this is just as much about Sasha's parents as it is about Sasha herself. And as expected, there's still some worry on their part for how their daughter may be treated in the future once she's away from the safety of her family. But it's still incredibly valuable that Lifshitz shows us this family having already grown past any initial stages of awkwardness or misunderstanding. All we see are parents who've remained strong to their vow of loving their child unconditionally—and making it look like the easiest, most common-sense thing a person could do. No matter their worries, they show any other parents in similar situations that letting one's child feel accepted is both easy and gratifying.