When I think of cute girl movie I really only have one-ish rule:
1. The movie needs to be primarily from her pov so that she's in most scenes.
Though a ssecond rule for myself that will be pretty subjective from person to person is beginning to grow more important:
2. It isn't just pure misery from start to finish. Yes some drama is good but there is a division between good drama and emotionally manipulative porn. Think Lifetime movie but with little girls instead of middle aged women being abused. I just have a hard time enjoying those these days, personally.
So here are some of my recent watches and / or old favorites that primarily Slice of life / more Lighthearted affair that are either entirely from the girl's pov or she is featured in nearly every scene:
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Iris 2011 - The 2011 coming-of-age drama Iris is about a 9-year-old girl who goes to stay with her uncle in the Finnish archipelago and discovers friendship. RIch girl goes to the country type movie where the rich girl starts out more aloof and socially stunted rather than mean or stuck up. It's a nice change of pace. (Iris trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVtSZwRpaGU)
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Du är inte klok Madicken (1979) and
Madicken på Junibacken (1980)(these are movie versions of their longer TV 2 season tv series, but I personally suggest just watching the tv versions.) (Du ar inte klok Madicken trailer:
https://youtu.be/QcZFPAy-TCI)
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Kiddo 2023 ‧ 2023 Dutch drama road movie directed by Zara Dwinger (Kiddo trailer:
https://youtu.be/hCD80UeddsU)
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Paradize 89 - 2018 - Paula goes to stay with her cousins in Latvia during a time of political turmoil. (a little more serious than the others) (Paradize 89 trailer:
https://youtu.be/8BhTXF73LHo)
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The Secret Garden 1993 - Mary Lennox loses her parents in an earthquake and goes to stay with her only living family member willing to take her in--her reclusive weirdo uncle at his enormous manor. THough Mrs Medlock mean streak is dialed up in this version, the movie is mostly about her coming out of her shell and finding happiness in the natural world. The 1975 BBC version is also excellent and probably the most faithful to the book. (The Secret Garden '93 trailer:
https://youtu.be/1zeqqhA5Z3A)
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Wild Chicks
Original title:
Die Wilden Hühner 2005 Sprotte is about 12 years old and has a "gang" with her three friends Frieda, Melanie and Trude. Together the girls take Care of Sprottes grandmothers chickens. (Die Wilden Huhner trailer:
https://youtu.be/uRq6deGeXH4)
Recently, I have been watching the "American Girl" movies based off the toy doll line and yes that's a sentence I never expected to write. They're a little melodramatic times, but it's the type of movie that you pretty much know everything will work out in the end, considering they are meant to promote the characters the dolls are based on, it would be really weird if they failed or died at the end.
They do have a tv movie feeling to them , but credit where credit is due, the period piece ones do seem to make more effort than the modern day movies to look more expensive. They are also a crazy who's who of random 90s actors. I've caught Jennifer Tilly(childhood crush), the bully from Final Destination 1, Chris O'Donnel(robin from batman forever.) These aren't remotely hard to find if you want to watch them, so I'm just going to throw some stream of conscious thoughts out about them:
Kitt Kittredge - Really good. Possibly the best one purely from a "feels like an actual movie" standpoint. The main girl plays Little Rock in the Zombieland movies. This one also looks more expensive and has some recognizable actors. It takes place during the depression era of the US and Kitt wants to become a reporter while her family struggles with the economic crisis. 7.5/10
full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bssmjh4fiwE
Mckenna shoots for the Stars - Well, first things first, she's a gymnast. She has trouble reading and gets a tutor that she is initially bitchy towards. She starts off annoying and mopey, but grows pretty quickly. I also like how they displayed her issue with reading with random words on the screen that she isn't processing. Kind of a little spark of creativity in a pretty by the numbers movie. Probably give it a 6.4/10
full movie: https://youtu.be/kjNxGiWqeR4
Saige Paints the Sky - Honestly, I didn't like this one very much. I thought she came off kind of spoiled and mopey and most of her problems could have been easily resolved if she just explained them to people. I get that she is a child and has a lot of pressure on her from her friends and family, but good lord, anything beats lashing out at everyone constantly. Basically, she is a horse-girl but she also suffers from pretty severe anxiety which the horse can "sense" so she has trouble controlling it, and it also prevents her from speaking her mind when her other friends kind of branch off to go do their dancing concert when she wanted to do something with painting. It's not awful, I'm sure many young girls related to her character, she was just personally annoying to me. The performance she puts together at the end is pretty cool, but the idea of a public school doing this stretches the imagination, to say the least. Although, maybe they do things differently in the wealthier school districts. 5/10
full movie: https://youtu.be/RBwdmozq1EM
Chrissa Stands Strong - this is actually my favorite. It's completely bonkers and you won't understand unless you just watch it. It's literally scene after scene after scene of the school bully, a girl named Tara, brutally tormenting and harassing Chrissa and her friend. Tara actually STABS Chrissa in the back with a pencil in one scene. I feel like if I listed every awful act Tara does in this relatively short hour and 1/2 movie it would be hard to believe. The saddest part is Chrissa just looks like a neglected puppy through 95% of the film. She is constantly begging her parents to let her be homeschooled and she just endlessly takes the bullying. It's legitimately kind of sad and tough to watch and the actresses for Chrissa and Tara really make it convincing. I won't rule out the possibility that there is black mold growing in my house slowly deteriorating my brain, but I genuinely enjoyed this movie and found it very engaging. I won't spoil it in case anyone actually decides to watch, but I also found the resolution both satisfying and realistic while not being overly sappy. 7.8/10 (sidenote, I am rating these with the intended audience in mind, obviously I am not going to tell a motorcycle gang uncle "man you gotta watch chrissa stands strong! totally a 7.8 out of 10! But as a movie made for little girls featuring problems they'd realistically face, it is well done.)
full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51QkF_2O1AY
Samantha: An American Girl Holiday. This is probably my 2nd favorite after Chrissa and it's another one that feels closer to a real movie with a budget. Samantha moves in with her uncle, leaving her servant friend behind. Later, she discovered something tragic happened, and she wants to help her servant friend, but she has to contest with a lot of dubious situations she'd normally turn the other cheek to had she not befriended the servant girl, like neglect in an orphanage and child labor. It's great and despite the name of the series, it's not afraid to (lightly) criticize darker aspects of american history. 7.6/10
full movie: https://youtu.be/BvnwYas5Uv0
Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front - This one was also good, but I don't have a lot to say about it. Imagine your local Starbucks barista got warped into a WWII era 10 year old girls body, and you have an idea of what this character is like. 7/10 add or subtract a few decimals depending on how much you enjoy nerdy hipster girls.
full movie: https://youtu.be/NlSDF0Ic0sc
[Image]
Molly brags to her friend about how she listened to Radiohead before they blew up.
Ones I haven't watched: Felicity an American Girl Adventure:
https://youtu.be/t8WIKfipQ94 (full movie)
An American Girl: Lea to the Rescue:
https://youtu.be/05OOSlrQNCQ (full movie)
An American Girl: Isabelle Dances into the Spotlight:
https://youtu.be/CEJfpt-0C2w (trailer only, couldn't find full movie)
An American Girl: Grace Stirs up Success:
https://youtu.be/M4vlrAIUprU (Full movie)
So I was able to find all of the full movies on youtube except Isabelle Dances into the Spotlight.
I had intended to post some other genre suggestions here, but this has gotten absurdly long so maybe I'll come back later and make another post.
I myself can not answer your question because I also enjoy things like plot and characterization. Cute girls are just not enough for me. However, there are probably plenty members here honest enough to admit that there are some movies with no worthwhile plot and wretched acting that they enjoy simply for the "eye candy". Maybe I am just not that honest, or my memory for it is no longer as good. 
The Forest