Stephen Schiff

“Kristy McNichol gives Little Darlings a certain luster, too [for Schiff, like Walter Matthau in Little Miss Marker.] Slim and serious, with an air of questing intelligence, she's grown into an actress of remarkable range. McNichol's performance seems to be taking place behind her face, in the place where inchoate thoughts and feelings brew. We seem to know what she's thinking before she does, before the emotions touch her features, ant that gives us a sense of intimacy with her. It also makes her a perfect embodiment of that vague, trembly, unformed condition known as adolescence. In Little Darlings, Mc Nichol peers into the maw of sexuality, and we sense the ferocious churning inside her. But the movie has its own designs, and her searching portrayal doesn't quite fit into them.

“…. [W]atching a third-rate spring-exploitation film exploit the singular talents of Kristy McNichol leaves an unpleasant taste in your mouth--a taste not even the robins and crocuses can erase.”

Stephen Schiff
Boston Phoenix, April 1, 1980