REVIEW: ‘Young Ahmed’
Photo: Young Ahmed stars Myriem Akheddiou and Idir Ben Addi. Photo courtesy of Christine Plenus / Provided by Kino Lorber with permission.
Young Ahmed, the new movie from directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, is a somber look at one boy’s radicalization and whether a rehabilitative stay in prison will change his mindset. The film, now playing in Los Angeles, won the filmmaker brothers the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and no doubt much of the praise can be found in their simple and characteristic approach to the narrative, which has scenes float into others with an everyday ordinariness. It’s only when Ahmed (Idir Ben Addi) allows some emotion to come over his actions that the story snaps into an intense and uneasy portrait of a young man at a psychological crossroads in his life.
Ahmed lives in a small Belgian town and faces issues that are typical for a teenage boy, including difficulties at school and distance from his family. His father is not in the household, and his mother struggles to impart her love and wisdom on the boy, who is increasingly taken in by a local imam who runs a grocery store. In the backroom of the store, Ahmed prays and learns a fanatical interpretation of his religion, and he is inspired to act out violently against his teacher (Myriem Akheddiou), a woman who has had a positive influence on Ahmed and the community. When the murder plot goes awry, Ahmed finds himself in a juvenile prison, needing to rehabilitate his thoughts and show remorse for his deed.
The quick film, which runs only 84 minutes, does not focus too much on the imam or the radicalization. Much of this undue influence comes before the movie even begins, and the audience is meant to fill in the blanks. Instead, the directors depict personal scenes of Ahmed struggling with his faith and preparing himself for prayer. He is devoted to his view of religion, but as his mother and teacher tell him time and time again, he is not thinking straight on how to apply those religious beliefs to everyday life. For example, he brandishes a knife in his sock and makes a toothbrush into a sharp implement, all with the intention of bringing harm to his teacher, who is the focus of his attacks.
Even though Ahmed scarily sticks to the imam’s influence, he also begins to buckle while in prison. He runs relay races with the other boys, works on a farm and befriends the farmer’s daughter. While living away from the imam for a while, he seemingly becomes unsure of himself, yet he also believes some of these new realities are against his faith. Throughout his imprisonment and work program, he stays silent and waits out his sentence, trying to show his superiors that he has changed. The finale, which is nail-bitingly intense, finds Ahmed making an ultimate choice between peace and violence.
Addi holds the movie together in the central role. The camera never leaves him for the full duration of the film, and many scenes simply depict him in various states of prayer and contemplation. Much of Young Ahmed actually transpires without any dialogue. Instead, the audience is left with Ahmed, thinking and trying to figure out life at such a young age. Some of his blank stares hint toward his radical beliefs, and this perception is frightening. Other stares show him perhaps reconsidering his path. The inability for the viewer to tell definitively the difference between the two is what makes Young Ahmed so engaging and frustrating.
The outside world never take up too much space in the narrative. This is not a statement film about the continuing war on terrorism, and it’s not intending to solve problems, absolve sins, forgive acts of violence or brush them off. It calmly and sometimes sadly tells one story about one boy and the many teachings he receives. The question becomes whether he will allow the positive, loving influences (say, from his mother) outshine his learned desire to cause harm.
This is an uneasy film to behold, and it certainly will have its detractors, perhaps decrying its slowness, its stereotypes or its personal look at a teenager resorting to terroristic violence. But within the character study there is a lot to consider on how a radicalized youth accepts and possibly rejects influence in life. The Dardennes leave enough time to also consider the forces pulling the young boy from one perspective to another.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Young Ahmed (2019). Written and directed Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. Starring Idir Ben Addi, Myriem Akheddiou, Othmane Moumen, Victoria Bluck and Claire Bodsom. In French and Arabic with English subtitles. Running time: 84 minutes. Rating: 
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