The reason so many films about at-risk children end up so sentimental, tragic, or inevitably depressing in some form or another is fairly straightforward: the kids are not alright. Some children just fall through the cracks, never receiving proper guidance or protection. The systems in place intended to care for them—children’s aid societies, foster homes, social worker services, adopting families—can’t always mop up the mess abusive and negligent parents leave behind. And in some cases, these institutions are equally or more traumatizing for the child. Brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's film "The Kid with a Bike" is about just such a boy—Cyril (Thomas Duret), who's doing all right in the bike department (mostly), but is completely lacking in parental care—yet it isn’t sentimental, tragic, or especially depressing.

"The Kid with a Bike" opens with Cyril escaping caretakers to find his father, whose number has been disconnected and whose apartment is empty. All signs point to Deadbeat Dad Abandonment, and the adults try to tell Cyril the truth—that his dad’s gone—but he refuses to believe anyone. Within minutes this troubled boy's traits—loyalty, stubbornness, intelligence—are established, and we’re invited to sympathize with his plight. The Dardennes' go about sympathy in a way that isn't revolutionary, but it’s far removed from Hollywood's typical approach to the same. The filmmakers’ diegetic world does not imply an inherent goodness, nor does it indulge in warm and fuzzies; it reflects the reality that optimism is a choice one must consciously make. Here, a choice made by the compassionate Samantha (Cécile de France), a hairdresser Cyril chances to bump into while fleeing his caretakers for the umpteenth time.

Cyril and Samantha may be strangers, but in their first encounter the boy holds on to the woman for dear life. Sensing the 10-year-old's despondency, Samantha tells Cyril she doesn’t mind him clinging to her, as long as it’s "not so tight." This dramatic moment is undercut by quick, frenetic pacing, but it still works, establishing an ad rem naturalism to match Cyril’s tenacity and take-it-as-it-comes abandon. One of the reasons Cyril is intelligent is because he immediately spots opportunity: in the span of just a few minutes, he figures out ways to get new leads to track down his dad. In Samantha, Cyril senses empathy and trust, another demonstration of his acumen. As a result, he asks her to be his foster guardian on weekends. She agrees, and from their first encounter, Samantha gives Cyril what he needs, always set by respectable boundaries. She’s understanding, forgiving, and loyal to a child that is not her own.

Perhaps part of the reason Cyril respects Samantha is because she’s the first person to treat him like an adult instead of a child. She gives him a cell phone, she sides with him over her boyfriend in one key scene, and she forgives him even after he breaks promises, even laws. But Samantha is no doormat—she disciplines Cyril when necessary, and she holds adults to the same standards—including Cyril’s dad, whom she forces to admit to his son that he no longer intends to take care of him. By doing so, Samantha makes Cyril finally accept his father’s abandonment, which, as heartbreaking as it may be, gives Cyril closure. She’s also teaching Cyril that adults should be responsible for their actions, just like children.

If the film holds that goodness is not innate, that it is a learned skill, then it also avers that all children—even adults—will make mistakes as they form their own moral codes, and that forgiveness is necessary when the learning curve is so steep. This is a truth oft-forgotten by the over-taxed, underpaid caretakers who operate in systems too faceless and bureaucratized to actually take care of kids properly. Quite frankly, there aren’t enough Samanthas in the world, and it really can be some rare opportunity—like Cyril meeting Samantha in a doctor’s office, of all places—that occasionally allows kids to be saved. 'Kid with a Bike' is realist not because of its style, but because it acknowledges the randomness of life.

Review by:
Tina Hassannia