23. Just Kids; movie review

 

 

JUST KIDS

Cert TBA

103 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

I am 57 years old and, very fortunately, still have both my parents. It is impossible to think of life without them.

Therefore, I could not imagine how a ten-year-old or even an older teenager would cope with becoming an orphan.

Christophe Blanc has taken his own awful experience and added the dimension that 19-year-old Jack (Kacey Mottet Klein) is given the responsibility of being the legal guardian of his much younger brother Mathis (Andrea Maggiulli).

Consequently, before the poor lad has even time to digest his own grief, he is given an almost impossible job.

From the outset, it is clear that he is apprehensive but while older relatives shrug their proverbial shoulders, at least he steps up to the plate.

They even suggest that Mathis paints Jack in a glowing light during the custody case at court but the older boy insists he tells the truth, suggesting that he knows he is not up to the job.

Nevertheless, conditional custody is granted and he is expected to look after a child who had simply seen him as his brother rather than a decision-maker.

Just Kids is set on a working-class estate where the children's father had lived on the edge, mixing with some dubious characters and setting up dodgy deals.

Thus, Jack is faced with making sure his dad's old life doesn't collide with his new one.

As said, I don't know anyone in this position so it is difficult for me to comment on how realistic Blanc's movie is but his young actors reflect the rawness and bewilderment of grief superbly.

Sometimes the audience may become exasperated at Klein's Jack for going off the rails but who can really blame him given the pressures he faces?

Maggiulli's Mathis is much more than an add-on. He flicks between showing understanding (and empathy when a young girl in his class also suffers parental bereavement) to simply wanting the stability of normal home life.

It is surely not too much to ask for any child but as Just Kids shows - it may not always be possible.

*Just Kids is part of MyFrenchFilmFestival which is available on digital platforms.

Reasons to watch: A very convincing portrayal of the impact of parents' death

Reasons to avoid: Upsetting scenes

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: Briefly

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? Just Kids is part autobiographical because director Christophe Blanc was an orphan at an early age and his father met a violent death.

The final word. Christophe Blanc: "Several attempts at writing remained unfinished. And then I had this click: I split into two characters. I was Mathis, that ten-year-old who discovers and repairs himself in photography, and Jack, that 19-year-old young adult obsessed with the reasons for his father's death."

Share this post