Cookie Queens Film Review: Sweet Documentary

Alysa Nahmias’ Cookie Queens is a sweet, immediately charming documentary about Girl Scout cookies, growing up and entrepreneurship.

However, this is not a cookie-cutter film. It is certainly heartwarming, but the magic of Cookie Queens is that it goes deeper into something that, as Nahmias explained in her Sundance “Meet The Artist” interview on Cookie Queens, is “a deliciously paradoxical symbol of sweet innocence and big business.”

Each Girl Scout sets her own sales goal during the season. The more they sell, the more they earn in prizes for themselves or their troop. And in following four girls trying to reach their goals, Nahmias takes us right across the US. In Charlotte, North Carolina, 12-year-old Olive is a seasoned pro. She once sold over 8000 boxes of cookies in one season, a record in her area. Her goal is a more modest 4000 this time around. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t ambitious. That can be seen as she asks the other members of her troop if they know what upselling is or, when one customer says she’s a good salesperson, she replies, “I would like to be a Supreme Court Justice.”

Meanwhile, in El Paso, Texas, Shannon Elizabeth is 8 and of Latinx/Native American origin. Her goal is 2750, which would be enough to go to camp. Something that would be too expensive for her family otherwise (note that for later). In San Diego, California, 5-year-old Ara (who threatens to steal the film and your heart) is first seen practising her sales skills with her toy elephant. She hopes to sell 55 boxes. And a hundred miles north in Chino, Nikki, 9, wants to earn enough for a trip to Europe and has the help of Nyah and Nala, her teen sisters and former top sellers. They might be outgrowing this season, but they will be needed to sell $18,000 worth of cookies.

Because here’s the key: Girl Scouts have to buy their inventory first, then they sell it. They also have to cover the cost of the inventory, regardless of how successful they are. When the cookies arrive (a truckload in Olive’s case), they have to figure out how to sell them and how to drum up support and attention. Parents will be involved, often as co-leaders of their daughters’ troops. Social media will be used too – Shannon Elizabeth uses her karate skills in one video. Yet with just six weeks in the season, the complexities of cookie selling might take their toll.

Cookie Queens implements a bright, pop-rocky aesthetic from the off, especially in the soundtrack, which includes Kim Wilde’s ‘Kids in America’ and Japanese Breakfast’s cover of The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’. Crucially, this light style doesn’t get in the way of the stories being told. Having spent so much time with each family, Nahmias captures these girls’ inner lives in the moment. Consequently, as the weeks roll on, she paints a picture of the personal and business pressures of selling cookies. Long hours, continuous selling, massive goals. Some would call it exploitative.

Olive certainly feels the divide of money is inequitable – out of every $6 spent on a box, only $1.10 goes directly to the troop. Many different parts of the Girl Scout organisation get the money, but Olive is inspired to change things. Moreover, whilst she comfortably meets her goal, she speaks of possibly quitting before next year. She feels the constant need to sell more and more, to meet expectations.

But what about someone less successful than Olive? Shannon Elizabeth and her family, who are less economically stable, struggle to shift their stock and pay off their balance. And we get a sense of the possible consequences. “Am I going to have to mortgage our house just to make sure that we pay off Girl Scouts of America?”, mother Amanda says. And what about the others? Ara has Type 1 Diabetes. She needs a patch on her arm to track her insulin and is only allowed a little bit of the product, lest her sugar levels spike. It is an added obstacle to Ara’s quest as she hauls her trolley by herself.

Admittedly. Cookie Queens is a very simple watch. A film in the ‘Family’ strand of Sundance is not going to call out this capitalist system or delve into the economic intricacies. That being said, mentioning some of these issues in the first place shows a lot of depth to a film that is consistently fun. A film of entrepreneurship that is also a coming-of-age story about growing up. We empathise greatly with Olive, Shannon Elizabeth, Ara and Nikki during Cookie Queens. We celebrate their achievements and note the sacrifices they and their parents make in the process. We see them aspiring and hoping for the future. That is an extra dimension to Nahmias’ sweet and immediately charming documentary, which will stick with you for a while after.

Cookie Queens will be released in US theaters on and in UK & Irish cinemas on