Title: Young Mothers
Foreign Title: Jeunes mères
Year: 2025
Country: Belgium/France
Language: In French with English subtitles
Directors and writer: Jean-Pierre Dardenne| Luc Dardenne
The latest film from the Dardenne brothers is another powerful work of social realism, but unlike their previous films, this one carries a faint touch of hope at the end.
The story follows five teenage mothers living in a special shelter where they are trained and guided into motherhood. Their circumstances vary: some come from struggling families, others from homes that can’t or won’t support them, one of them doesn’t have a family at all.
Shifting from one story to another, the film focuses both on the individual mothers and on the collective life within the shelter, the friendships formed, the daily routines, the shared meals the young women prepare, and the camaraderie and mutual support that develop as they slowly, and not always successfully, learn what it means to be a parent and a functioning grownup in society. From renting a flat to studying and finding a job all the way of changing priorities in life.
Being a mother is hard. Being a mother for the first time at fifteen, without family support and burdened by issues like addiction, low self-esteem, or neglect, seems almost destined for failure. The journey is fragile and intimate, both for the young mothers, the supporting staff, and for us as viewers. From the first frame, we cling to hope that they won’t stumble, that they’ll resist drugs, avoid abusive partners, and rise above the mistakes of their parents. Like life and parenthood itself, the film is a Sisyphean journey. By the end, though not much “happens,” you find yourself emotionally drained. The film concludes, but it doesn’t end, and you keep hoping their fragile progress continues beyond the screen.
The Dardenne brothers once again prove that they stand at the summit of contemporary filmmaking. They bind grueling stories with masterful craftsmanship to reach a deeper, more philosophical understanding of life.
All the characters and stories are true, based on people the filmmakers met through their research. The shelter was modeled after a small, exceptional facility with a high staff-to-teen ratio, unlike many others, which are often more chaotic and dramatic. By doing so, the Dardenne’s’ shift the emphasis from sensationalism toward a quiet observation of the delicate lives of the young mothers and the patient, difficult work of the social workers.
Most importantly, this approach transforms the film from a mere social critique—addressing immigration, racial tension, and drug abuse, into a philosophical and moral reflection: What does it take to become a mother? How do we give and receive love, from our families and from those around us? How essential is genuine care in shaping who we are?
The acting is superb, the camerawork precise and delicately subtle. The Dardenne’s didn’t invent this cinematic language or the process of working with actors. Larry Clark had already created a powerful, documentary-like handheld style in Kids (1995), as did Harmony Korine in Gummo (1997). The method of rehearsing camera movement with actors for such fluid realism can even be traced back to John Cassavetes’ films of the late 1960s. The uniqueness of the Dardenne’s lies in how seamlessly they put it all into practice, making it seem effortless, and in how they use it to serve their ultimate purpose: to make the viewer leave the theatre with a small sense of relief, and a little more faith in human beings.
