I don't really understand why this brilliant film was seen by critics as a minor piece of work by the brilliant two time Palm D'or winning Dardenne brothers. I was hooked throughout. Their last two films, The Unknown Girl and Two days, one night were almost universally seen as amongst their best work. Whilst I enjoyed both of those films, they didn't hit me emotionally like others Dardenne films, such as the kid with a bike or L'enfant. Young Ahmed did. Young Ahmed - superbly played by Olivier Bonnaud - is clearly a complex character caught in the middle between Western norms and his interpretation of Allah. He's certainly been led astray by the most fundamentalist of interpretations of the Quran, but you never quite know if he's playing the game, or is genuinely sorrowful for his actions. And the result is a quietly disquieting portrayal of what, for him, is right and wrong, loyal and disloyal, life and death. And, as is oft the case with the Dardennes, there's no obvious answers. A return to form from my go to European auteurs. 8 and a half out of ten.

When "Young Ahmed" begins, Ahmed has already been radicalized by a local Imam in Belgium. The film does not deal with what drove him to be radicalized (although as the story unfolds it becomes clear),but rather, it tries to determine if young people, once radicalized, can be conditioned and trained to release their hatred and learn that it is better to talk to those with opposing views, and that violence is not necessary.

I found the film to be very interesting in this discussion of what is going on all over Europe. I found it disturbing that after all the positive things that people had done for him, and his meeting a young woman who was interested in him, that Ahmed could not make a real connection to others. All he wants to do is kill his teacher who he says has defiled the teachings of the Quran.

While I applaud the work of the Dardenne brothers here, I think that it may have been more interesting to have had the perspective of a director such as Asghar Farhadi to make it more authentic.

An excellent film. 8 out of 10

Even as an agnostic who sees religion very critically, I'm baffled how irresponsibly the producers and directors fuel the fire of bigotry, with such an agenda driven film, in an already toxic political climate. It's rather appalling how the movie tries to intentionally vilify a group of people, by regurgitating the same islamophobic tropes we have been hearing for 20+ years, while failing to maintain any nuance. How can a movie call for open mindedness while being bigoted and close minded itself?