It’s a diverting story about young women wanting to lose their virginity… or is there something more going on? At summer camp in the eastern United States, two girls, Kristy McNichol and Tatum O’Neal, engage in a competition to see who will be the first to experience sex. Angel (McNichol) becomes interested in a boy (Matt Dillon) at the neighboring boys' camp across the lake, while Ferris (O’Neal) pursues an older camp counselor (Armand Assante). This is a coming-of-age story with some funny moments, reminiscent of “The Summer of ’42” (1971), except that it centers on girls during the summer of 1979 – when the film was made. The initial portion depicts the girls’ arrival at camp via bus and the usual antics: rivalry, friendship, pilfering a bus, encountering boys, stealing condoms, a food fight, swimming, canoeing, among other things. It's comparable to “Meatballs” (1979) and generally standard fare, though somewhat enjoyable. I found myself more engaged in the second half, discovering what felt like genuinely well-handled drama. Even with the premise of a bet about who will lose their virginity first, "Little Darlings" doesn't handle sex carelessly. There’s a moment where one of the girls asks a boy before potentially having sex for the first time: “Right now. Do you care about me a little?” This illustrates how little a girl might ask from a guy before being intimate. Her subsequent tears are also an honest reaction, and quite believable. It emphasized that sex was significant and not something to be taken lightly. Following this is the interesting contradiction of what the two girls tell their friends, and even better, Angel & Ferris’ powerful meeting at the swing set with its refreshing honesty. The concluding scene and closing credits are touching as “Let Your Love Flow” by the Bellamy Brothers plays. I realize many people view this film simply as a lighthearted summer camp comedy, like "Meatballs," but those scenes are excellent and represent drama and cinema at their best. The movie has a running time of 1 hour, 36 minutes and was filmed at Hard Labor Creek State Park, Rutledge, Georgia, along with nearby Covington, Madison and Eatonton, Georgia. GRADE: B

Source on TMDB