Synopsis
A Belgian teenager hatches a plot to kill his teacher after embracing an extremist interpretation of the Quran.
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Cast
- Idir Ben Addi
- Olivier Bonnaud
- Myriem Akheddiou
- Victoria BluckLouise
- Claire BodsonLa mère
- Othmane MoumenImam Youssouf
- Amine HamidouRachid
Recommendations
- 83
The Playlist
Absent from Young Ahmed is the frenetic urgency that defines the directors’ greatest work, replaced here by the titular character’s unshakable tunnel vision. - 80
Screen Daily
Focused and thought-provoking, it should be welcomed as a return to form after the disappointment of The Unknown Girl. - 80
CineVue
Told respectfully and far from tarring an entire religion with the same brush, Young Ahmed is an exceptionally crafted and intelligent film. - 80
Time Out
Young Ahmed might not have answers, but it asks pertinent questions and makes acute observations. Its ending is hopeful, yet open. It’s a wise and sensitive contribution to a timely debate. - 75
IndieWire
The Dardennes have been the reigning kings of social realism for years, and tell these sort of morality fables on autopilot, but they’re such precise storytellers that even a minor work like “Young Ahmed” manages to deliver tense showdowns riddled with real-world connotations. - 70
Variety
Instantly recognizable as a Dardenne film, Young Ahmed has that same deceptively “rough” quality as the directors’ earlier work, a carryover from their documentary background. And yet, they are astonishingly efficient storytellers, weaving the necessary clues audiences need to evaluate — and at times entirely reconsider — their characters with the expertise of veteran detective novelists. - 67
The A.V. Club
Young Ahmed isn’t a folly, exactly. It’s reasonably gripping on a scene-by-scene level, and about as starkly unsentimental as any of the Dardennes’ lean, urgent moral thrillers. But its inability to shine a light on Ahmed’s soul leaves it feeling more like an exercise than anything the brothers have made, especially by its hasty, unearned ending. - 60
The Guardian
It is an involving story, with a strong lead performance.
