Cyril is hard work and no mistake but then why wouldn't he be.
Emotionally he's been through the wringer. He's 12 and lives in a care
home. Suddenly he finds that the father he sees occasionally has abandoned him. Around the same time he meets a woman, Samantha, who lives on the same estate where his father used to live and she agrees to foster him on weekends. Between them they track down his dad who turns out to be a feckless wastrel.
The Dardennes don't make 'easy' films.
People behave badly in their pictures and are driven to the point of
despair. "The Kid with a Bike"is no different but there is hope in this
picture that alleviates the pain. For such an emotionally damaged child
Cyril is remarkably resilient and in Samantha he finds someone whose
goodness is transfigurative but before he can turn his life around he
must first go through a baptism of fire with a local criminal.As Cyril, Thomas Doret is stunningly good. He's never really off the screen and he dominates the film. As Samantha, Cecile De France is also very fine and their relationship is sketched with great finesse and understanding and it is this that lifts the film onto a plain that is bearable. The film's a heart breaker to be sure but for the Dardennes it is almost upbeat. It's also remarkably simple and uncluttered and it delivers a knockout blow.
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