This was surprisingly delightful and heartfelt. Auli'i Cravalho delivers a really winning performance here, she was lovely. A-

Brilliantly scripted and acted. Auli'i Cravalho is really good in this. I didn't love the final where it became easier for Amber to come out of poverty but it somehow works for the type of movie this is. The friends angle is done well but needed more exploration. Justina Machado does REALLY well but she is not given much screen time, the mother-daughter relationship also needed more focus towards the second half.

Even with all the flaws its fun, brisk, has good intention and superbly acted by Auli'i so I will grade it a little higher than usual and give it A-