L’Enfant

Bruno, the 20-year-old antihero of L'Enfant, is 'œa lout, a jerk, a budding sociopath,' said Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly. He lives with his girlfriend, Sonia, in a Belgian steel town, scraping together a living as a petty thief. When Sonia returns from the hospital after giving birth to their son, she finds that he has sublet the flat to strangers. To say that this pair are 'œunequipped to be parents would be putting it gently.' Bruno, the real baby of the title, is particularly ill-prepared, said David Fear in Time Out New York. He goes so far as to impulsively sell his infant, Jimmy, on the black market. Sonia kicks the bum out, and he begins a journey that will earn him redemption 'œthe hard way.' It's thanks largely to Jérémie Renier's incredible performance that the audience slowly gains 'œcompassion for this pathetic paterfamilias.' Directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are also determined to show how 'œlittle room to maneuver there is for individuals marginalized by implacable social forces,' said Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times. It's tough to have normal feelings when living in dire poverty. As Bruno slowly learns the cost of having these essential emotions, the wonder is that 'œhe never loses our sympathy or our concern.'

Rating: R

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