It’s now become a running joke that whenever they’re selected in Competition at Cannes, the Dardenne brothers, or their film, will almost invariably walk away with a prize. It’s gotten to the point where, in 2022, some assumed the 75th Anniversary Prize they received for Tori and Lokita had been made up just for them, rather than being the latest iteration of a special award handed out every five years. Not that awards – in this case the Best Screenplay prize – will make much of a difference for Young Mothers: the brothers’ reputation and established style are more than enough to ensure a healthy shelf life on the arthouse circuit all over the world.
As per the title, youth is once again central to the narrative, set in the directors’ home region of Liège in Belgium (specifically, shooting took place in the village of Banneux). Here, we follow the everyday routines of five young girls who are either in the late stages of pregnancy or already full-blown mothers. They live in a shelter that will help them figure out one of two outcomes: raise their child, alone or with a partner, or place them with a foster family. Ariane, for example, is hellbent on the latter option, despite the objections of her own mother (an alcoholic with questionable taste in men), who talked her out of getting an abortion.
For those who choose to raise their children, the organization provides aid in finding employment and a place to live, which is what happens to Perla, although she’s also looking at options that would be more convenient to her boyfriend. Julia is also searching for an apartment with her partner, with whom the whole experience – parenthood, cohabitation and their imminent wedding – is a big celebration of their shared triumph over a past of substance addiction. Jessica, who’s about two weeks away from giving birth, is trying to get in touch with her biological mother, who abandoned her years ago.
Always careful when it comes to casting, the Dardennes have assembled a diverse group of protagonists, with Lucie Laruelle (Perla) being a first-timer while Elsa Houben (Jessica) is effectively transitioning to more grown-up roles after many years as a child and teenage actress. They work well individually and as a team, giving the story a solid emotional core conveyed through the sometimes raw sincerity of their performances, with capable support from an adult cast that contains some familiar faces but no major names (the biggest one is French actress India Hair, whose screentime amounts to five minutes or less).
As they always do, the brothers – assisted for the third consecutive time by cinematographer Benoît Dervaux – follow these characters around with no fuss, capturing everything with naturalistic, handheld grace. This is sometimes at odds with the script’s more contrived moments, as some scenes featuring the adults get unnecessarily big in order to milk some additional drama, but such instances are outliers in a film that treads familiar ground but does so in a simpler manner compared to the Dardennes’ previous two films, which touched upon sensitive socio-political topics in a bit of a heavy-handed fashion.
This is a quieter, more subdued affair, which is at its best when it just lets the scenes breathe naturally and evolve organically, leading to at least two moments where this writer was moved by the culmination of the concerned story arcs. It’s a return to form for two filmmakers whose formula had reached a breaking point, and needed to get back to basics. To be born anew, if you will.
Directors & Screenwriters: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Cast: Babette Verbeek, Lucie Laruelle, Elsa Houben, Janaïna Halloy Fokan, India Hair, Claire Bodson, Christelle Cornil
Producers: Delphine Tomson, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Cinematography: Benoît Dervaux
Production design: Igor Gabriel
Costume design: Dorothée Guiraud
Sound: Jean-Pierre Duret, Valène Leroy, Thomas Gauder, Eric Grattepain
Production companies: Les Films du Fleuve, Archipel 35, The Reunion
World sales: Goodfellas
Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Competition)
In French
105 minutes
