Movie Reviews from the Dark

Greetings again from the darkness. “Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?” It’s a familiar pitch we hear every year at grocery stores, our front doors, and even at the office as co-workers spread the word on behalf of their scouting daughters. With an annual hankering for Thin Mints, we gladly exchange our cash for a box … or two or three. Documentarian Alysa Nahmias takes an unusual approach to this ritual of local Girl Scouts selling sweets. For historical perspective, the film opens with archival footage covering decades of boxed goodie transactions initiated by girls in the familiar vests.

Should anyone doubt the size of this venture, we are informed that Girl Scouts sell $800 million in cookies over the six-week period each year. The $6.00 per box is divided up into shares for the cookie bakers, the Girl Scout corporate offices, the Girl Scout councils, and $1.10 goes to the Girl Scout troops, and yes, the individual Girl Scouts (through prizes). Nahmias makes this a personal story by following four girls of varying ages as they work their way through cookie season.

Olive lives in North Carolina. She’s twelve years old and holds the record by selling more than 8000 boxes. We hear her teaching younger scouts about ‘upselling’, and then Olive answers a customer’s question by stating she wants to become a Supreme Court justice. She’s remarkably well-spoken and media savvy. Her dad video records her personal pleas for cookie sales and then uploads the videos to her dedicated website.

Chino, California is where we find nine-year-old Nikki, who desperately wants a trophy like the one her older sisters, Nyah and Nala, won for being top cookie sellers in the area. A trip to Europe is now on the line, and it’s interesting to watch as the older scouts position ‘cute’ Nikki to draw in customers, many who think the older girls are too old for scouting.

Shannon Elizabeth is eight years old and has a goal of selling 2750 boxes in El Paso so that she can attend this year’s summer camp. It’s in this house where we see the burden carried by parents becomes crystal clear. Lastly, we have five-year-old Ara in San Diego. She struggles with diabetes and is whip-smart, although her tiny frame struggles to pull her red wagon loaded with cookies. Ara’s original goal is 45 boxes, but that shifts to 55 as the weeks go by.

Rather than ooh and ahh at the girls giggling their way through group activities, we are left feeling the weight of cookie selling – both on the girls and their families. There is definitely an upside to the life lessons of setting goals, possessing the self-confidence to talk to adults, and developing a work ethic and commitment to individual and team objectives. But according to the film, families must now financially commit to a certain number of cookie boxes, and then those are either sold by the girls or the parents are on the hook. This is a change from the old days when it was common for friends and family to place orders ahead of time, and the troop would order extra product for the public booth sales. It’s a bit nerve-racking to see what these parents and kids go through, whether they are selling thousands of boxes or a few dozen. The interactions between the parents and girls is quite something to behold.

One of the benefits of Girl Scouts is the push for being a well-rounded person, and we see young Ara as she does Pilates and plays the piano. By the end of the film, Olive’s activism has her leading the charge for a bigger share of proceeds going to the girls at the troop level … this after her own emotional crisis and battle with her mother over whose goals they have set. There is a lot going on in this film and I recommend a crunchy Do-Si-Dos to calm your nerves while watching.

Opening in theaters on August 7, 2026

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