Cookie Queens

Six weeks of every year, weeks that are sometimes extended, the Girl Scouts of America sell $800 million in cookies. Director Alysa Nahmias observes Cookie Season focusing on four scouts from 5 to 12 in "Cookie Queens."

Laura's Review: C+

While differing personalities, parental styles and capitalistic ambitions make for an ofttimes diverse overview, Nahmias' construction is too scattershot, her hopscotching style not thematically cogent. Take, for example, the film's actual cookie queen, Charlotte, North Carolina's twelve year-old Olive who holds the record at 8,745 boxes. We see her father shooting videos for her website, yet we never see it in action nor is it explained how this website helps her achieve her goals.

Olive, who introduces the film asking younger scouts if they know what 'upsell' means, tells a customer complimenting her salesmanship that she wants to be a Supreme Court justice. She also seems conflicted, setting a goal of 4,000 boxes to take it easier, then going on to beat her prior record by thousands. In conversations with her mother, who co-leads her troop, Olive frequently says she thinks her parents enjoy the cookie selling more than she does, mom only pushing back slightly, asking if perhaps Olive isn't pushing herself. It's all a bit disturbing, but we can also see the youngster's self confidence as she appears on local news segments.

In El Paso, Texas, 8 year-old Shannon Elizabeth, the only scout explicitly identified as a Brownie, has set a goal of 2,750 boxes in order to pay for summer camp (the scouts get $1.10 for every $6 box sold, although it isn't made clear that the money goes for prizes), something that seems to be stressing her parents out as they're on the hook if the boxes don't sell. Since when did Girl Scout cookie business turn into something like Amway? Back in the olden days, when I was a scout, one would collect orders and then get the cookies to deliver and take payment for, yet changes in the system are not discussed here.

Nikki from Chino, California is motivated to sell to win a trophy like one of her older sisters did as well as pay for a trip to Europe, something her mother is adamant the girls will be responsible for. Nikki often works with older sisters, fourteen year-old Nala and sixteen year-old Nyah at booths in front of shopping areas. Nikki is described as their 'hook,' drawing in customers because she's still cute and people don't realize teens can still be scouts. As the only black subjects, we only learn their mother signed them up for Girl Scouts to help them assimilate in a majority white area in the film's press kit, not in the actual documentary, yet this family is presented as very insular. It also should be noted that every subject appears to be pretty well off, even the mom who says 'I have a mortgage payment of cookies in my house.'

That would also apply to Ara, a five year-old from San Diego and the documentary's most endearing subject. This little girl is upping her goal by a factor of ten to 55 boxes, but struggles mightily pulling the wagon which contains them. She's also diabetic and cannot sample her own wares, so when she meets an adult who shares the disease, she returns to his house later with her own homemade sugar free cookies - and offers to sell them for $6. Ara also performs on an electric piano at a local flea market to draw in customers. As the sun begins to set at the seashore, Ara faces a number of rejections, one woman's promise to come back later taken literally, her dad gently convincing her it's time to go home.

Nahmias branches out to show her subjects doing other things, Olive attending a dance with her best friend Celia, Shannon Elizabeth training for a purple belt in karate, but oddly she shows no troop meetings or other scout activities. The documentary wraps giving us updates on how successful each girl was, Nikki viewing the Eiffel Tower, Olive campaigning for a larger cut of the profits and receiving an invitation to join a non-voting advisory board.

Robin's Review: C

Every year, the members of the Girl Scouts of America are recruited to sell their famous cookies – to the tune of $800 million a year taken in by GSUSA. Documentary film maker Alyssa Nahmias follows four of these ambitious young ladies as they hawk their ware in "Cookie Queens."

This sounded like a really clever idea for a documentary and the elements are all there. We have four precocious moppets who were select to represent the Girl Scouts – Nikki from Chino CA, Olive from Charlotte NC, Shannon Elizabeth from El Paso TX and, my favorite, 5-year old Are from San Diego CA – as the sales reps.

The stated mission of Girl Scouts is to "[build] girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place." It should be pointed out that for many decades, the GSUSA has also been teaching its diminutive salesgirls the concepts of capitalism, consumerism and how to "up-sell,"

"Cookie Queens" starts with a black and white montage of past Girl Scouts and their cookie sales, setting the stage for the modern entrepreneurs. I do not know about GS cookie sales – I am a guy – but I do remember my work colleagues shilling their daughters' cookies, sometimes annoyingly.

Once the introductions are over, we meet the kids' parents and learn about the mechanics of modern-day GS cookie selling. Apparently, the kids set the goals and order the appropriate # of boxes of cookies. But, the parents foot the upfront costs and, if they are fiscally challenged, could lose a lot of money.

Watching "Cookie Queens" raised a number of issues for me – both with the doc's construction and with the concept of creating young capitalists. The cash earned from the children's (and parents') hard work, principally, goes to the Girl Scout Council (the oversight body), the cookie makers and, finally, the smallest portion goes to the local troop whose members actually do the earning of the $800 million per annum.

I would think that, with all of this incoming revenue, all of the members of GSUSA would benefit from the camping trips and gatherings that define the Scouts. But, it is what the individual scout earns that will dictate the "benefits" of girl scouting.

The construction, by director Nahimas, is a mishmash of interviews with the kids and parents, scenes of selling to passers-bys with "Do you want to buy some Girl Scout cookies?" If they agree, the next question is "How many?" and lots of sequences that felt manufactured – as with repeated long shots of the girls dragging their wagons across stark landscapes.

I was excited about seeing "Cookie Queens." Unfortunately, for me, the final product did not meet my expectations, kind of like Girl Scout cookies. (Ara, BTW, is a little cutie pie,)

Roadside Attractions releases "Cookie Queens" in theaters on 8/7/26.