Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are best known for making subtle, realist films. They play out slowly and deliberately, and they can be stark and relatively difficult to navigate because of their bleakness. But, if you stick with them, and if you put in the work of getting to know their characters, they always sneak up on you with how much drama they’ve built, and they always culminate with something affecting and worthwhile. Their newest film is no exception. A depressing tale about a young boy trying to process the fact that his deadbeat father doesn’t want him, The Kid With a Bike starts off small, as a mini detective tale following the boy as he tries to figure out where his dad has moved. It develops into something of a domestic story, when he’s taken in by the kind-hearted local hairdresser, and we see how they spend their days together. And then it becomes a petty crime tale, when the boy is roped into committing a small time robbery by a local hoodlum. It doesn’t sound like much, but by the time everything comes together in the end and the characters reach the point where they’ve grown and changed, you’ll be glad that you stuck it out.
Let me extrapolate the difficulty of watching this movie a bit, so that you don’t think I’m listing it as a criticism. Our protagonist, Cyril (Thomas Doret), has a difficult life. He’s been abandoned to a boarding school, emotionally neglected by his absentee father, and he wants nothing more than to find somewhere he belongs, and to feel like he’s loved. Because of this he frequently acts stupidly and stubbornly, and putting up with his outbursts can be something of a challenge. It also means that this film constantly puts an uncomfortable amount of vulnerability on display. Much of the movie concerns itself with the boy running from place to place, gangly limbs flailing awkwardly, with a panicked look on his face. He’s searching for something we know he’s never going to find. And we know he doesn’t have the emotional tools the deal with the eventual consequences of his inevitable failure. You’re always shifting in your seat, nervous, and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Watching Cyril clumsily and unsuccessfully navigate his young life is a raw experience, it hits a nerve, and it’s going to be a trip to the movies that some squeamish audience members aren’t going to be able to endure.
Honestly, it’s probably a good thing that the film is so short (1hr 27min), because at times it can be such an intense experience that I’m not sure anyone would be able to handle a whole lot more of it. That intensity comes from how effectively it’s crafted, though. The first act builds up to the reunion of Cyril and his father, Guy (Jérémie Renier), and it’s constructed so well that the climax really plays as a big moment. There’s no question that the meeting is doomed, but Cyril refuses to accept it. He’s so invested in the idea that his dad’s disappearance is just a misunderstanding, that he’ll tell himself anything to keep believing it, and due to how headlong he throws himself into delusion, you known that his eventual illumination is going to be a painful experience. But the Dardennes don’t rip the bandage right off. They delay the pain, and make you experience a little bit at a time. The dad avoids their meeting, he hides behind closed doors, pretends that he can’t hear Cyril’s knocking. Eventually the young boy has to climb a fence and throw himself into his father’s new world in order to be noticed, and by the time he does, their reunion has become a mythic event. The Kid With a Bike forces you to experience every bit of its protagonist’s trauma, and every bit of the dread that leads up to it.
Which is necessary, because without a thorough understanding of Cyril, you’d never be able to watch him do the things he does and still root for him. He’s stupid, he’s stubborn, he pushes everyone who genuinely cares about him away, and he makes up any excuse to protect the people in his life who are exploiting him. At one point he commits a violent act against his new guardian that is so unforgivable, such a betrayal, that you can’t imagine how you’re going to go on following his story with any empathy at all. But then the Dardennes pull you back in. The ups and downs of the narrative play out perfectly, and are expertly designed to frustrate you and then engage you all over again. Every time you’ve given up on Cyril, something else terrible happens to him that gives you a deeper understanding of why he’s doing what he does. You’re always willing to cut him another break, give him one more chance. And, in that respect, watching the film pretty expertly recreates the experience that his new guardian Samantha (Cécile De France) is going through.
The other side of the story is that you also get a pretty good indication of what it’s like to be Cyril. Early in the film, where he’s trying to leave his boarding school in order to go searching for his father, just the act of getting alone for a few minutes becomes a frustrating experience. Here he is trying to work through a traumatic experience, and he has no privacy to do it in. Every time he leaves a room, any time he tries to do anything, it gets questioned by an adult. He can’t even sleep in peace without someone coming into his room without knocking and invading his space. Experiencing Cyril’s life right alongside him is a great reminder of what a powerless position it is to be a kid, and it goes a long way toward making you sympathize with the character, even when he’s acting like a little shit.
I guess my deep involvement with Cyril’s life must mean that Thomas Doret gives a great performance as the boy. But, really, I think of him so much as being a real person that it didn’t even register with me while I was watching the film to note how he was doing as an actor. Doret doesn’t come alone either; he’s supported by a couple of really strong performances that help sell the reality of this world. The most impressive of which has to be De France’s performance as Samantha. She’s such an authentic presence that you just automatically accept everything she does. We’re never told why she is willing to take a random and troubled young boy in, her reasons are never even really hinted at; but we don’t need them. We accept her actions just because we can see what sort of person she is: open and empathetic. When they first meet, they’re complete strangers in a doctor’s office, he a runaway being chased by counselors. Given no other option for escape, he just clings to her and refuses to let go, and from that point on you believe that they are permanently bonded. In that moment she felt and understood his pain, and her life would never be the same.
The Dardennes have been building quite the impressive collaborative history with actor Jérémie Renier over the years, and his role here feels like a great addendum their work together in L’Enfant. In both films he plays a father who commits the ultimate betrayal against his son. In both films he is too immature and incapable to take care of a child, and too cold and narcissistic to think of anyone other than himself. Renier plays the role so well that you just want to reach into the screen and strangle his stupid neck. His face is so smug, his eyes so pathetic, that he really becomes these deadbeat dads. Also, there’s an actor in this movie named Egon Di Mateo, who plays the slightly older leader of the gang of hoodlums that Cyril foolishly tries to join, and I loved him. His slicked back hair is just so evil and slicked back. His sleeveless shirts were so without sleeves. He was perfect.
Movies like The Kid With a Bike can be hard to write about, because they’re character studies where getting to know the protagonists and gaining an understanding of their lives is the meat of the experience. The more you talk about and dissect, the more you’re giving away essential parts of the joy of watching the film. So, basically, a critique of a movie like this comes down to an opinion of whether or not the people you’re being introduced to are worth meeting or not. And here, they are. I’m not even going to get into talking about the ending of this film, and how it ends with the world in balance, with the story complete; but with an infinite air of possibility still sitting over everything. And I’m not going to get into why the fact that Cyril owns a bike is so important to his sense of self. It’s better that you experience all of that for yourself.
So, you know, please do.
