Young Mothers

Young Mothers
Theatrical release poster
French	Jeunes mères
Directed by	Luc Dardenne Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Written by	Luc Dardenne Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Produced by	Luc Dardenne Jean-Pierre Dardenne Denis Freyd Delphine Tomson
Starring	Lucie Laruelle Babette Verbeek Elsa Houben Janaïna Halloy Fokan Samia Hilmi
Cinematography	Benoît Dervaux
Edited by	Marie-Hélène Dozo
Production companies	Les Films du Fleuve Archipel 35 The Reunion
Distributed by	Cinéart (Belgium) Diaphana Distribution (France)
Release dates	23 May 2025 (2025-05-23)(Cannes) 3 June 2025 (2025-06-03)(Belgium)
Running time	106 minutes [1]
Countries	Belgium France
Language	French
Box office	$1.3 million [2] [3]

Young Mothers (also known as The Young Mother's Home, French : Jeunes mères), is a 2025 drama film produced, written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. ^[4] Starring Lucie Laruelle, Babette Verbeek, Elsa Houben, Janaïna Halloy Fokan and Samia Hilmi, it follows five poor teenager mothers in a maternity shelter in Banneux, Belgium.

The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 23 May, where it won the Best Screenplay prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. ^{[5] [6]} It was theatrically released in Belgium on 4 June by Cinéart.

It was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. ^[7]

Premise

Five young women; Jessica, Perla, Julie, Naïma and Ariane and their children are housed in a center for young mothers.

Cast

• Lucie Laruelle as Perla
• Babette Verbeek as Jessica
• Elsa Houben as Julie
• Janaïna Halloy Fokan as Ariane
• Samia Hilmi as Naima
• Jef Jacobs as Dylan
• Günter Duret as Robin
• Christelle Cornil as Nathalie, Ariane's mother
• India Hair as Morgane, Jessica's mother
• Joely Mbundu as Angèle, Perla's older sister
• Claire Bodson as Isabelle
• Eva Zingaro as Asun
• Adrienne D'Anna as Yasmine
• Mathilde Legrand as Lucie
• Hélène Cattelain as Silvia
• Selma Alaoui as Betty
• Juliette Duret as Daphné
• Fabrizio Rongione
• Marc Zinga

Production

The film is produced by the Dardenne Brothers alongside Delphine Tomson for Les Films du Fleuve, in co-production with Archipel 35 and The Reunion. It received funding from Walloon regional investment fund Wallimage. ^[8] In March 2025, the film title was reported as Young Mothers. ^{[9] [10]}

Filming took place in Banneux in Wallonia in August 2024. ^[11]

Release

Dardenne Brothers and cast during the film's premiere

Young Mothers was selected to have its world premiere in the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or. After its screening, on 23 May 2025, the film received a 10 minutes standing ovation. It was awarded the Best Screenplay prize, alongside the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. It was also showcased at the 53rd Norwegian International Film Festival in Main Programme section on 17 August 2025. ^[12] It will also be presented in the Icon section at the 30th Busan International Film Festival in September 2025, ^[13] and in the Official Section of the 70th Valladolid International Film Festival. ^[14]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Cannes Film Festival	24 May 2025	Palme d'Or	Young Mothers	Nominated	[15]
		Best Screenplay	Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne	Won	[16]
		Prix du Jury Œcuménique	Young Mothers	Won	[17]

See also

• List of submissions to the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
• List of Belgian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

References

1. "Young Mothers (12A)". British Board of Film Classification . 18 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
2. { "Jeunes mères (2025)". The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
3. "The Young Mother's Home". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved 1 September 2025.
4. "YOUNG MOTHERS | Goodfellas". goodfellas.film. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
5. "The films of the Official Selection 2025". Festival de Cannes. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
6. "The Screenings Guide of the 78th Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
7. "Oscars 2026 : la Belgique sera représentée par "Jeunes mères" de Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne" (in French). [RTBF]. 26 August 2025. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
8. Engelen, Aurore (16 May 2024). "Wallimage to back the Dardenne brothers' new film". Cineuropa.org. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
9. "Cannes Film Festival – And here are some guesses". The Statesman. 25 March 2025. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
10. Brzeski, Patrick; Roxborough, Scott (10 March 2025). "Cannes Film Festival Contenders: 60 Movies That Could Make the 2025 Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
11. "The Dardenne brothers filming "La maison maternelle" near the Banneux sanctuary". Lavenir.net. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
12. "Young Mothers". Norwegian International Film Festival . 31 July 2025. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
13. "Selection List : Icon". BIFF. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
14. "Bi Gan, los Dardenne, Sergei Loznitsa, Lav Diaz y Mascha Schilinski competirán por la Espiga de Oro en la 70 Seminci". Kinótico (in Spanish). 24 July 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
15. "The films of the Official Selection 2025". Festival de Cannes . 10 April 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
16. Richlin, Harrison (24 May 2025). "It Was Just an Accident Wins the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival (Complete Winners List)". Indiewire . Retrieved 24 May 2025.
17. "Prix du Jury œcuménique 2025 : and the winner is..." [2025 Ecumenical Jury Prize: and the winner is...]. Regards protestants (in French). 24 May 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.

External links

• Young Mothers at IMDb