L'Enfant (The Child)

• 2005
• Belgium / France
• 1h 35min
• 15

• Directed by: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
• Written by: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
• Cast: Jérémie Renier, Déborah François
• Language: French
• Website: www.sonyclassics.com/thechild/

Eighteen-year-old Sonia (François) returns from hospital with her new-born son Jimmy, only to find that her flat has been sub-let by her petty thief boyfriend Bruno (Renier). When a 'fence' tells him that people pay good money for babies to be illegally adopted, he impulsively decides to sell his own offspring, triggering a fateful chain of events. Another impressively unsentimental yet compassionate account by the Dardenne brothers of life amongst young have-nots in the anonymous Belgian industrial town of Seraing.

• 75%
• 87%
• 86%
• Buy from Amazon.co.uk