We open on a young boy desperately trying to call his father. Cyril, we learn, has been left by his dad, Guy, in a state-run youth farm, but that he has only been there for a month. Fixated on the idea that his father will be coming back for him to bring him his bicycle, Cyril gives his counselors unending grief as he tries time and again to reach his dad's apartment. Again and again he is told that his dad no longer lives in the building, that after Cyril was moved into the home he packed up and left. It takes Cyril going inside his father's now empty house to understand that his dad has abandoned him.
In a fit of excitement and anger the counselors chase Cyril into a clinic where he latches on to a young woman named Samantha. Not too long after she contacts Cyril saying that she had found and purchased back the bike that his father had sold. This simple act of kindness turns into something more when Cyril asks her if he can stay with Samantha at her hair salon on weekends. Having no knowledge of Cyril or where he came from, having nothing that should obligate her to accept, she does.
This is an enchanting little film from Belgium that traces the extent that unsolicited human kindness can endure. The main character is Cyril, yes, and his story about his quest to find his father and earn his love is very compelling, but it is the peculiar nature of Samantha that makes this film uniquely touching.
Cyril is devastated when he finally begins to understand that he has been abandoned by his last relative. I wondered what he and his father's relationship was before the boy had been moved into the home, but a mesmerizing shot in a kitchen scene where Cyril stirs sauces for the restaurant Guy works at a look of controlled irritation he receives from his father makes it clear that Cyril was a mistake. What follows is a beautifully paced sequence of events examining a child whose anger and hurt causes him to lash out. He ignores love where it is given and seeks it where there is none to be found. In his quest for a father figure he disrespects Samantha, instead turning towards the shady teenager, Wes.
Cyril's destructive, violent and sly nature is met with inhuman patience from Samantha who suffers his slights and his lack of receptiveness to her willingly given generosity. This film gives an interestingly mild feminist perspective. There are five main male characters that come in contact with Cyril and all of them turn out to be villains in one way or another. It does not present itself immediately, but down to the most minor moments of interaction that Cyril has with other men they end up falling into a spectrum of enemies. The only character that shows him affection is Samantha who does it fully and without ulterior motives.
It is interesting to me that I expected her to have some unsaid reasoning as to why Samantha became his foster parent. It speaks volumes not only about our society, but also about how our culture is presented in film that the word "generous" still connotates that a person does something with the expectation that they will receive something in return. This film has powerful implications and it seems to me that if there were more films like it which had characters simply wanting to help another, it might skew our vision of the world in a positive way. Television and film is pervasive and if we were barraged by images of people doing good deeds for the sake of that goodness perhaps we would feel inclined to do the same.
3.5/4
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