The Dardenne brothers’ Young Ahmed is a gut-wrenching, deeply poignant look at radicalization and the ways desperate young people can be held under the sway of charismatic authority figures – especially in religious communities. Like so many of their other work, the effortless, almost documentary realism makes the film appear simpler than it is. The loose, handheld camerawork and long sequence shots are meticulously crafted and perfectly constructed – to heighten suspense and tension in some scenes, to bring us to profound emotional catharsis in others. And I appreciate the ways in which they attempt to show the breadth of Muslim experience in this community – especially since so much of the film focuses on a radicalized Muslim teenager. It’s a work filled with the Dardenne brothers’ deep humanist compassion for everyone – even for characters who attempt terrible things. It’s a beautiful, deeply moving film.