Cannes 2025: Dardenne Brothers’ Bid for Third Palme d’Or Wraps up Wide-Open Race

'Outstanding' Dardenne brothers teenage mothers movie has Cannes in tears

Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, whose inspiring new film "Young Mothers" won the best screenplay prize at Cannes on Saturday, said they wanted to show young women defying the fate that was forced on them.

‘Young Mothers’ Review: The Dardenne Brothers Bring Clear-Sighted Observation and Empathy to a Tender Snapshot of Women at a Crossroads

The two-time Palme d’Or winners’ latest is an ensemble drama developed out of time spent with teenagers and their babies in a maternal support shelter near Liège.

Although he had nothing to do with a "feel good movie", "Young mothers", a film in competition in Cannes that honours warriors who refuse to give in to victimization, is a much brighter work than the last grim opus of the Dardenne brothers.

Cannes 2025: Dardenne brothers’ bid for third Palme d’Or wraps up wide-open race

The race for the Palme d’Or wound up with a return for two-time winners the Dardenne brothers, adding a slice of Belgian social realism to a politically charged 78th Cannes Film Festival that delivered strong contenders for the top prize but no outright favourite ahead of Saturday’s closing ceremony.

Following teenagers gathered in a centre for mothers in difficulty, Belgian filmmakers sign an unequal but moving film.

"We don't run to death, we run away from the birth catastrophe." Even though it is recurrent and even punishable (more than even quoting Oscar Wilde) it's practically...