In a powerful and celebrated return to their signature style, acclaimed Belgian filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne have secured the number three spot in the UK's best films of 2025 with their latest work, Young Mothers. The film delivers a deeply empathetic and dignified portrait of teenage mothers grappling with immense social hardship and addiction while searching for hope.
A Return to Form for Acclaimed Auteurs
Often compared to Britain's own Ken Loach for their unflinching focus on society's marginalised, the Dardenne brothers built their reputation on naturalist dramas about young people in crisis. Their distinctive handheld camera work and profound storytelling earned them the highest accolades, including two Palme d'Or wins at the Cannes Film Festival in the late 1990s and 2000s, alongside awards for Best Screenplay and the Grand Prix.
Following a period where they experimented with higher-profile projects featuring stars like Marion Cotillard and tackled broader political issues, Young Mothers marks a confident return to the intimate, character-driven filmmaking that first defined them. The brothers are once again working with material and non-professional actors they intuitively understand.
Heartbreaking Realities and Empathetic Storytelling
The film centres on young women who are heartbreakingly unprepared for motherhood, facing a cascade of challenges. These range from the practical, like learning basic infant care, to navigating turbulent relationships with absent partners, battling drug dependency, and dealing with their own neglectful parents.
Where a lesser film might descend into miserabilism, the Dardennes deploy their trademark empathy to make these stark scenarios resonate with life and humanity. Scenes that could be overwhelmingly bleak—a teenager searching for her birth mother or an addict recovering from an overdose—are rendered with a compassionate, observant grace that avoids exploitation.
Masterful Direction and Cinematic Technique
A key to the film's power is the directors' peerless skill with young actors. The performances, including those from Janaina Halloy and Christelle Cornil, are uniformly authentic and compelling, with each actor fully embodying their role.
The brothers' cinematic technique remains vital. Their almost exclusively handheld camera acts as a silent, present participant in the scene, pulling the audience directly into the characters' worlds. This creates a sharp contrast with Ken Loach's more observational style. Through restless pans and a camera that moves with the protagonists, the Dardennes achieve an intimate, nervous proximity to their subjects' anxiety and resolve.
By seamlessly weaving multiple narrative threads and finding profound significance in small details—like a bedroom window with a view of the Meuse river—the filmmakers reaffirm their status as masters of contemporary European cinema. Young Mothers stands as a testament to the enduring power of compassionate, socially engaged storytelling.
