Dardenne brothers’ Young Mothers depicts four young women in Liège shelter

Time calls the Dardenne brothers’ Young Mothers among their best work; the Belgian filmmakers’ latest, set in Liège, follows four very young women who are either pregnant or have just given birth and who live in a shelter for young single mothers. The film profiles Ariane, who wants to place her daughter with adoptive parents while her own mother pressures her to keep the child; Perla, who hopes to form a family with a disinterested delinquent father; Julie, a recovering drug addict who adores her baby but fears relapse despite a supportive boyfriend; and Jessica, who yearns to meet the birth mother who gave her up and fears repeating that cycle.

A fifth woman, Naïma, is shown leaving the shelter to return to school—she loves trains and hopes to become a ticket inspector—and the film makes plain how modest the characters’ goals are, from finding work while caring for infants to mastering tasks like cleaning a belly button or mixing formula amid bossy relatives, negligent partners and other outside pressures.

The review describes the performances as forthright and unvarnished and the film as spare yet richly detailed, with an empathetic understatement whose full effect may linger hours after viewing.

Key Topics

Culture, Dardenne Brothers, Young Mothers, Liège, Single Mothers Shelter, Adoption