The plot focuses on the life of Marieme (Karidja Touré), a teenage girl who lives in a rough neighbourhood on the outskirts of Paris.

[6] It received four nominations at the 40th César Awards, including Best Director for Céline Sciamma and Most Promising Actress for Karidja Touré.

Lady (Assa Sylla) who is the leader of the group, and her followers, Fily (Marietou Toure), and Adiatou (Lindsay Karamoh), ask Marieme if she wants to join them for a day in the city centre.

After committing theft, the girls pay for a hotel room, steal dresses, drink alcohol, do drugs, lip sync to "Diamonds" by Rihanna, and dance all night long.

At the hotel, Lady encourages Marieme to ignore her abusive older brother's phone calls and gives her a gold necklace with the name Vic for Victory.

Vic is physically assaulted by her brother when he finds out she slept with Ismaël, so she leaves home and starts to work for Abou, a local drug dealer.

[9] Vic lives in an apartment with Monica, a prostitute also working for Abou, and sells drugs in a gang of young men.

[11][12] Sciamma is frequently asked why she wrote and directed a film about a gang of young French black girls, seeing that she is white.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Powerfully acted and smartly scripted, Girlhood offers a fresh perspective on familiar cinematic territory.

"[19] In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle wrote, "Girlhood is about as grim as movies get, but it's showing something real, and Sciamma has a feel for this period of life, the camaraderie, the jokes, the kinds of conflicts, the panic and the hope.

[12] A. O. Scott of The New York Times commended Girlhood for maintaining the focus on a young woman in an absent society where she is fierce, independent, gentle and intelligent in order to survive what comes ahead.

Scott focused on the conflict between the conscious Marieme developing towards the fearless Vic and how she combats the stereotypes of what a young woman in her situation is expected to become by transforming her experiences into a future she now controls.