Film
Swagger
Other titles called Swagger: the 2021 series (Apple TV).
Swagger is a nimble, intimate documentary following eleven teenagers from a working-class Parisian neighbourhood as they navigate school, ambition, family pressure and identity. Shot with energy and genuine affection, it feels less like sociology and more like hanging out with people who are funny, smart and absolutely worth your time. It's for anyone who remembers being young and thought the world should listen.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like documentaries that let young people set the rhythm, trusting their jokes, boredom and bravado to reveal more than any narrator could.
Skip it if you want a tightly plotted story or a clear arc; this drifts from moment to moment, and its loose, looping pace can feel unfocused over its runtime.
What it asks of you: Settle into eighty-four minutes of loose conversation and few signposts, so you need to let scenes breathe and find the thread yourself.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Boyhood2014
Like Swagger, it's a film about time passing and young people becoming themselves. Patient, funny, occasionally crushing. You forget you're watching cinema—it just feels true.
But Nearly three hours long and deliberately paced. If you need plot momentum or dramatic climaxes, this will feel like watching grass grow.
The Florida Project2017
Follows kids in poverty with the same warmth and comedy that Swagger has. The children are brilliant, the world they navigate is real, and it never once talks down to either.
But Deals with economic precarity and family instability. It's not depressing, but it's honest about things that hurt, which isn't always easy to watch.
Moonlight2016
Three chapters of a young Black man's life—the structure mirrors Swagger's 'just watch them live' approach. Visually stunning, emotionally precise, and it trusts you completely to keep up.
But Quiet and metaphorical. If you're expecting plot or explanation, you'll leave frustrated. It asks you to sit with ambiguity.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Swagger
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Werewolf1987
Both documents lives with genuine tenderness while refusing to make poverty sentimental. They find the texture and humour in daily survival.
A Catalan miniseries (five episodes) about a family under stress, where magic realism arrives quietly. Like Swagger, it's about working-class dignity, family survival, and people being more interesting than you'd expect. The surprise is how it uses genre language to talk about real things.
But Subtitled, and structured around an allegory that doesn't announce itself. If you prefer plot clarity and English dialogue, this will feel oblique and strange.
More like this (7)
Eighth Grade2018
Another film about teenagers being exactly themselves—cringe, funny, trying, failing. Made with such kindness that you're rooting for the protagonist even when she's uncomfortable.
But Heavy on secondhand embarrassment. If you can't tolerate awkwardness on screen, this will feel excruciating rather than moving.
The Farewell2019
Captures the specific texture of being young in a world between cultures. Funny and sad at once, with genuine warmth toward its characters. Wildly charming.
But Tonally strange—it mixes comedy with genuine emotion in ways that don't always feel seamless. Some find the tonal shifts jarring.
Girlhood2014
French film about teenage girls in working-class suburbs. Unguarded, full of laughter and friendship and vulnerability. Shot in grainy black-and-white that feels immediate and present.
But Deliberately rough aesthetically. The grainy look and handheld camera aren't for everyone, and some scenes feel deliberately shapeless.
American Animals2018
A true-crime documentary that intercuts the actual people with actors playing them. Playful, inventive, and genuinely funny about young men being stupid in ways that matter.
But Stylish in a way that some find flashy. The constant visual play can feel like it's working too hard to entertain you.
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)2021
A documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival that was lost for decades. Joyful, grounded in real people, and has that same quality of 'watch this life unfold' that Swagger does.
But Heavy on archival material and historical framing. If you want contemporary energy throughout, the stretches of older footage might feel slow.
Hoop Dreams1994
A three-hour documentary following two basketball players through high school and college. Sprawling, intimate, patient. The kind of film that lets you really know people over time.
But Released nearly thirty years ago and it shows—the image quality is grainy, and three hours demands real commitment. Some find that length punishing.
Rocks2020
Both capture adolescence as a time of real stakes and real intelligence. Neither film thinks teenagers are problems to be solved—they're people doing their best.
A British film about a sixteen-year-old girl navigating care system when her mother vanishes. Shot largely with nonprofessional actors, it has Swagger's energy and its belief that teenagers' inner lives deserve your full attention. Funny, moving, unguarded.
But Deals with child abandonment and system failure. It's warm-hearted but not gentle, and some scenes are genuinely difficult to sit with.
People
Cast
- Aïssatou DiaElle-même
- Mariyama DialloElle-même
- Abou FofanaLui-même
- Nazario GiordanoLui-même
- Astan GonieElle-même
- Salimata GonieElle-même
- Naïla HanafiElle-même
- Aaron N'KiambiLui-même
- Paul TurgotLui-même
- Elvis ZannouLui-même
Directing
- Olivier BabinetDirector
Writing
- Olivier BabinetWriter