Young Ahmed
Belgium’s Dardenne brothers turn out another precisely understated masterpiece…ultimately as humanistic and illuminating as any of their films.
Young Ahmed
The Dardenne Brothers won this year’s Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for this brave new work, another intimate portrayal-in-furious-motion of a protagonist in crisis. The filmmakers’ radical empathy alights on a Muslim teenager (extraordinary first-time actor Idir Ben Addi) in a small Belgian town who is being gradually radicalized into extremism despite the desperate protestations of his single mother (Claire Bodson), and who winds up hatching a murderous plot targeting his beloved teacher (Myriem Akheddiou). Taking a serious view of a difficult issue—the effect of fanaticism on the body and soul—the Dardennes here remind viewers why they continue to be at the center of 21st-century cinema. – New York Film Festival
“The Dardenne brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc are known for their emotional slice-of-Belgian-life dramas, but none of their work can prepare you for gut-punch that is Young Ahmed.” – Emily Kubincanek, Film School Rejects
"A compact, gripping return to the directors’ nonprofessional roots… In the lead role, Ben Addi is yet another mesmerizing young discovery by the Belgian duo." – Bradley Warren, The Playlist
"Build[s] narrative tension with a masterful and precise hand." – Aurore Engelen, Cineuropa
"A wise and sensitive contribution to a timely debate." – Dave Calhoun, Time Out
"Creat[es] a kind of gut-wrenching suspense that carries through the second half of the picture, right up till its very last scene.” – Peter Dubruge, Variety
"Top-notch work from the Dardennes, filled with their usual bired’s-eye-view camerawork, solid acting from nonprofessionals and a searing screenplay which builds up the tension with every scene." – Jordan Ruimy, World of Reel
“The Dardenne brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc are known for their emotional slice-of-Belgian-life dramas, but none of their work can prepare you for gut-punch that is Young Ahmed.” – Emily Kubincanek, Film School Rejects
"A compact, gripping return to the directors’ nonprofessional roots… In the lead role, Ben Addi is yet another mesmerizing young discovery by the Belgian duo." – Bradley Warren, The Playlist
"Build[s] narrative tension with a masterful and precise hand." – Aurore Engelen, Cineuropa
"A wise and sensitive contribution to a timely debate." – Dave Calhoun, Time Out
"Creat[es] a kind of gut-wrenching suspense that carries through the second half of the picture, right up till its very last scene.” – Peter Dubruge, Variety
"Top-notch work from the Dardennes, filled with their usual bired’s-eye-view camerawork, solid acting from nonprofessionals and a searing screenplay which builds up the tension with every scene." – Jordan Ruimy, World of Reel
Genre
Drama,
French Cinema,
Auteur Cinema,
Religion
Runtime
84
Language
French,
Arabic
Director
Jean-Pierre Dardenne,
Luc Dardenne
Writer(s)
Jean-Pierre Dardenne,
Luc Dardenne
Cast
Idir Ben Addi,
Myriem Akheddiou,
Claire Bodson,
Olivier Bonnaud,
Victoria Bluck,
Othmane Moumen
Awards:
Winner, Best Director, Cannes Film Festival
Nominee, Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival
FEATURED REVIEW
Peter Debruge, Variety
There’s a darkness to “Young Ahmed” that audiences have never seen before in the work of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the gifted Belgian brothers whose profoundly humane, unapologetically realist dramas have twice earned them the Palme d’Or in Cannes. Like surrogate parents to troubled children ...
Played at
Royal 3.06.20 - 3.15.20
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