Consistent excellence is rare in cinema, but no film-making team has more regularly swept us away with their poetic insights into ordinary lives than the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The Kid with a Bike, however, does more than keep up the high standard. On the run from a children's home where his father (Jérémie Renier) has dumped him, 11-year-old Cyril (Thomas Doret) goes to his father's place, but finds neither him nor his beloved bike. Instead, when his carers find him, he dives into a doctor's waiting room and clings to hairdresser Samantha (Cécile de France). She takes an interest and eventually offers to foster him at weekends. You might think that an obvious thawing and building of a bond between the two would follow, but nothing so simple takes place. Instead it is the very fragility of tentative connections that is constantly tested as this angry young boy, played by Doret with astonshing intensity, fights for a sense of self-determination. Every shot, every move, every word is honed to its best use, and the Dardennes use music in short bursts for the first time. We at Sight & Sound are beyond delighted to show this marvelous example of the brothers at their very best, which is simply to say, like always.

Nick James

Time Out critics' choice - read full review

One of Sight & Sound's 30 Festival recommendations - read more