The Kid with a Bike

The Kid with a Bike (2011)

  • 96% of critics liked it
    (106 reviews)

  • 78% of users liked it
    (20,016 ratings)

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, the deeply moving new film by the Dardenne brothers delves into the emotional life of troubled 11-year-old Cyril (Thomas Doret). When his father (Jérémie Renier) abandons… More

Play Trailer

PG-13, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Written By
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Genres
Art House & International, Drama
In Theaters
Mar 16, 2012 Limited
IFC Films

Critic Reviews

  • Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    The film should be required viewing for everyone who has lost faith in the power of random acts of kindness.

  • Tom Long, Detroit News

    "The Kid With a Bike" vibrates with desperation, frustration and the simple unfairness of life, leavened with glimpses of hope.

  • Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

    Cyril is one of the most inspiringly resilient, self-aware young characters to arrive on-screen in recent memory...

  • Ty Burr, Boston Globe

    "The Kid With A Bike'' is, remarkably, about hope - about the connections people forge when the ones they've been given desert them.

  • Rafer Guzman, Newsday

    The Dardennes' quiet, naturalistic style strips this story of melodrama but not of emotion.

Read all 23 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Mark H


    Coming of age tales heavily rely on the emotional connection that audiences share with the protagonist. If we can't identify with the star, then the story may not have merit. Even the best child actors can drift into precociousness. This is not the case here, as young actor… More

  • Greg S


    A Belgian boy tries to reunite with the father who abandoned him; a single hairdresser takes an interest in his plight. Young Thomas Doret is excellent as the understandably troubled boy who craves love but instinctively sabotages his chances in this thoughtful heartstring-tugger.

  • William D


    The Dardennes Brothers' "The Kid with a Bike," which tied for second prize at Cannes last year, is what you would expect from this filmmaking team: a brutally frank depiction of human callousness. Here the victim is a boy about 10 years old suddenly and inexplicably… More

  • Aaron N


    Cyril: Dad! I'm here. Given that the month of March was packed with an unusual amount of high budget, blockbuster films, I figured I would balance things out with a couple of independent/arthouse features as well. One of these was The Kid with a Bike, a Belgian film from the… More

  • c0up  


    'The Kid with a Bike'. A superb young lead performance by Thomas Doret, difficult and frustrating at times, but a beautifully constructed, very real drama. Cyril Catoul is a kid whose absolute tenacity you can't help but admire, a character you completely sympathise… More

Read all 12 featured audience ratings

Cast

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