Young Mothers: the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s quietly realistic film follows a group of teenagers, all recent mothers or mothers-to-be, who live in the same shelter house in Liège. They are all from modest, even hard backgrounds, and are united in their desire not to have their infants follow their footsteps. It’s a film that looks into motherhood, both forwards and backwards, as well as their relationship with their partners. The drama is modest, touching, non-judgemental, and hard-hitting. The performances are naturalistic and highly effective by the four young mothers (Babette Verbeek, Elsa Houben, Lucie Laruelle, and Janaïna Halloy Fokan, who create very dissimilar characters despite their similar situations). Cinematographer Benoît Dervaux keeps the camera intimate, which works wonders to give the film its emotional depth; editor Marie-Hélène Dozo balances the four storylines rather nicely.