Watch The Child For Free

Too much of everything

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The movie is a good movie without becoming a great movie. Why? Because even believing you the film, because it is a credible film, thanks to actors who are great but have many things that are half-way.It is a sample of how these couples always end badly, not as a couple since they will never stop being it, if not in their lives, and that whatever they do will always be forgiven and will continue.It has great dead times, is repetitive, surely with a few minutes less would be much better film, at least to me those filling times make me wait for the next plane that is the one that tells something and not the one I'm watching, that says nothing . That's why he pulls me out at the same time.Photography, although I do not know if it really has photography, does not help much, rather, it says nothing. On the contrary, it makes the film look worse.The director, apart from being a great director of actors, the actors are at all times great. He does not know that there are too many minutes left. He does not know how to make a plane that looks nice and that counts.Otherwise, it will not be a movie that wastes your time.

There should be a genre that describes slow building, horrific but humanistic dramas such as this and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. Technically, none of the plot points that happen in the movie are all that surprisingly, mostly because the synopsis gives you the basic gist: in this case, a young man sells his and his girlfriend's newborn for money and, when she understandably freaks out, he has to get the kid back and is further in the hole than when he started. However, what keeps you watching the movie for an hour and a half is not wondering how he gets the kid back, but the results of that initial poor decision coming out into their inevitable outcome. Meanwhile, you basically watch Bruno as he operates against time to rebuild the steady life that he never had in the first place.The whole thing is shot in somewhat long takes, with simple stripped down perspectives that usually involve just staying within the space of the characters themselves. Most of this movie, after the opening scene of Sonia returning from the hospital, is Bruno's story, so for the most part from their on what you can see is either what he's doing or what he can see. Digital photography helps keep this movie looking cold and miserable (seriously you wonder about Sonia walking around in that skirt all the time) with the over-cast exteriors, and everything is muted and undertoned. The acting is stupendous, from childlike joviality to brooding barely concealed by stoicism. The best part is how this movie leads up to probably the most understated prolonged chase sequence in contemporary cinema, one that's tense and suspenseful but completely devoid of the flash of usual excitement-inducing action cinema.The Dardenne brothers seem to be making quite a name for themselves in the international market, and from what I understand this movie doesn't deviate too far from their usual style. They are certainly a brother-director troupe to check out.--PolarisDiB

I can't understand why Cannes gave this film a Palme d'Or. It seemed to me false and imaginary, not realistic. I don't believe the directors ever lived in the environment they portray. Even a provincial city in Belgium will not be devoid of the scourge of drugs and illegal immigrants, I am certain. And yet The Infant depicts neither. It's not clear exactly how the female lead, Sonia (Déborah François), survives. She has no friends or relatives. Her thief boyfriend has let her flat (presumably without permission) while she was giving birth in hospital. Somehow she gets it back (not shown), and manages to eat without working. This, presumably, on welfare. She is blonde and buxom, but there is never a hint that the BF, Bruno (Jérémie Renier) might pimp her out. Bruno is amoral, but apparently knows nothing about drugs, either. Nor does he have anything to do with illegals. I'm sorry but for me this is entirely non-credible. L'Infant is a silly fairy story posing as gritty realism. BTW how many of the comments here contain undisclosed spoilers? Fifty per cent of them?

When the single mother Sonia (Déborah François) returns home with her newborn son, she finds that the baby's father Bruno (Jérémie Renier) had rented her apartment for a couple. She seeks out Bruno, who is a small time young thief that has a gang with two other teenagers, on the streets and they go to a shelter to stay during the cold night. On the next morning, they register the child with the name of Jimmy. When Bruno receives a proposal from his dealer for selling Jimmy for adoption for five thousand Euros, he steals the baby and sells him to his contact. However, when Sonia discovers what Bruno did, she faints, goes to the hospital and reports the transaction to the police. Bruno calls off the transaction and retrieves Jimmy, but has to pay to the dealers another five thousand Euros, in the beginning of his descent to hell and final redemption.The low-budget "L'Enfant" is actually the realistic story of Bruno, an indifferent and alienated young scum originated from the upper class but without job for option that steals, lies, manipulates, wanders on the streets and seems incapable of displaying love, remorse or any other human feelings. Sonia is not well developed and the viewer never knows who she actually is and why she felt in love for Bruno. Jérémie Renier and Déborah François have awesome performances in the lead roles. The conclusion is disappointing since the final redemption of Bruno is inconsistent with his character. Maybe the intention of the writers and directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne is to give some hope to the audience instead of the expected dark and credible ending. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "A Criança" ("The Child")