EIFF 2025: Young Mothers
Young Mothers is the Dardennes' first ensemble piece; it’s also one of their finest films
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne established their reputation through their intense portraits of individual protagonists, but after splitting focus between two characters in Tori and Lokita, they have now made their most expansive film yet. Young Mothers introduces us to a group of teens living in a shelter for young mothers and mothers-to-be, and it’s the brothers’ first true ensemble piece. It’s also one of their finest films.
The girls in Young Mothers have all suffered some form of abandonment, either from their own families or the fathers of their children, and they are attempting to break the cycle of poverty, addiction and violence that marked their childhoods. Heavily pregnant Jessica (Babette Verbeek) is trying to reconnect with the mother who gave her up, while Ariane (Janaïna Halloy Fokan) is determined to give her baby to a foster family and wants nothing to do with her own troubled mother. Perla (Lucie Laruelle) and Julia (Elsa Houben) both want to build a family with their boyfriends, but the father of Perla’s child is a wastrel, and Julia still struggles with addiction and panic attacks.
There are no easy answers here, but there's so much compassion; the Dardennes' ability to elicit stunningly real performances from young actors is peerless. Their usual narrative urgency has been replaced by a more contemplative approach that allows us to know each of these young women in all their complexity. This tender and overwhelmingly moving picture reminds us why the Dardennes are still among the world’s most vital filmmakers.
Released 29 Aug by Curzon; certificate 12A
Little Trouble Girls has its UK premiere at EIFF on 15, 18, 19 & 20 Aug – tickets via edfilmfest.org