It addresses the subject of female genital mutilation, a common practice in a number of African countries, from Egypt to Nigeria.

The film was a co-production between companies from several Francophone nations: Senegal, France, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Gynecologist Dr Rosemary Mburu of Kenya estimates that as much as 15% of circumcised girls die of the excessive loss of blood or infection of the wound.

[3][4] The film is set in a colourful Bambara village in Burkina Faso dotted with termite mounds, and a mosque made from clay that resembles a gigantic hedgehog.

Her daughter, Amasatou, has become engaged, although she has not undergone female genital cutting, considered a prerequisite for marriage in the local tradition.

Amasatou herself unceasingly requests to have her genitals cut to secure her social status and marriage acceptance, but Collé remains unmoved.

She is approached by four little girls who are afraid and escape the ritual of the practice, and Collé draws a symbolic line, the colorful rope Moolaadé, a "magical protection," across the gate of the family's premises.

The African women's daily entertainment is enjoying the radio which transmits music and news of the world, which the male elders deem to be counterproductive and dangerous.

When he converses with Ibrahima, he accuses him, his father, and his uncle of pedophilia and is suddenly no longer concerned about the money that he could possibly get from the rich young man.

From the men's point of view, the radio is a bad influence on the women because it teaches them things from the outside world, such as the idea of equality or how excision is not truly necessary.

Collé demands that the women give up their knives, which she then carries to the elders, proclaiming that genital cutting is now a thing of the past.

[8] Dana Stevens of The New York Times found "To skip Moolaade would be to miss an opportunity to experience the embracing, affirming, world-changing potential of humanist cinema at its finest.

[10] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times said, "There's such a rich sense of the fullness of life in Moolaadé that it sustains those passages that are truly and necessarily harrowing".

[12] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter gave a mixed review and announced that "As drama the film mostly serves to illustrate the two sides of this crucial social debate in Africa".

[13] Phil Hall of Film Threat gave only 40/100 and found the movie "Achieves the impossible in taking a genuine socio-political tragedy and turning it into an anvil drama which will fray the patience of the most sympathetic audiences".