Young Mothers

The Dardenne brothers return to MIFF with this deeply human drama of the struggles and aspirations of five girls living in a home for underage mothers.

At a state shelter for teenage mothers in the eastern Belgian city of Liège, young women are taught how to care for their newborns, make contact with adoptive parents, deal with depression and survive in an uncaring world. Naïma is excitedly preparing to move on to a new life; Perla wants her child’s father to face his responsibilities; Julie is trying to overcome addiction and become a hairdresser; Jessica wants to make contact with her birth mother; and Ariane will do anything to shield her baby from ever knowing its abusive, manipulative grandmother.

Social-realist auteurs Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Two Days, One Night, MIFF 2014) author another empathetic dramatic portrayal of young people battling to maintain their dignity in the face of an oft-hostile society. Winner of Best Screenplay and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival – where the pair previously claimed the Palme d’Or twice over, for Rosetta and The Child (MIFF 2005) – this is a profound and humanistic work from two of the most meticulous and consistent filmmakers of this century.

“The duo’s most convincing film yet, owing largely to the way they have widened the focus from one or two characters in crisis to a loose choral form … deeply moving but never manipulative, Young Mothers amounts to the brothers’ best film in more than a decade.” – Variety