Young Mother Movie Summary

However, the father’s intentions become sinister. He begins to court Se-hee romantically, inviting her to expensive dinners and buying her gifts. He openly tells her, “You remind me of my youth. You don’t have to be a mother to my son. You can be a wife to me.”

'Young Mothers' Is One of the Dardenne Brothers' Best Films - TIME 9 Jan 2026 —

The film centers on a group of vulnerable working-class teenage women navigating the immense challenges of early motherhood while grappling with their own traumatic upbringings. Set in the maternity home in Alleur , the narrative weaves together five distinct stories: Young Mother Movie Summary

Note: This title should not be confused with the South Korean erotic film series of the same name (e.g., Young Mother 1-4), which features entirely different plotlines centered on domestic and romantic drama. Young Mother 4 (Video 2016) - Plot - IMDb

: Vulnerable and searching for her own birth mother who abandoned her, Jessica fears she cannot bond with her daughter, Alba, due to this cycle of abandonment. However, the father’s intentions become sinister

However, general audiences found the pacing slow (common in Korean erotic dramas) and the ending nihilistic. Unlike Western films in the same genre, Young Mother does not offer a happy escape. The “young mother” does not leave with the boy; she stays with the oppressor because survival is more practical than romance.

Se-hee takes the deal. The final scene is excruciating. Young-jae watches from a window as Se-hee packs her bags. She holds the father’s hand, her face a frozen mask of resignation. The last shot is Young-jae sitting on his bed, the stolen money scattered on the floor, utterly alone. The father has won, not through violence, but through ownership. You don’t have to be a mother to my son

: Like much of the Dardenne brothers' work, the film avoids high-stakes melodrama in favour of an empathetic, unvarnished look at those society often forgets. The New Yorker Critical Reception : The film won Best Screenplay Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. : Reviewers from The New Yorker