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. 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. 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.
Contents
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. In March 2025, the film title was reported as Young Mothers.
Filming took place in Banneux in Wallonia in August 2024.
Release
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. It will also be presented in the Icon section at the 30th Busan International Film Festival in September 2025, and in the Official Section of the 70th Valladolid International Film Festival.