‘Young Hearts’ Review: Confident Belgian Debut Takes a Gentle Look at Kids Figuring Out Their Identities
variety.comCatherine Bray Casting directors take note: Lou Goossens in this first feature film role is an actor to watch out for, naturalistic and able to convey subtle shades of inner turmoil, despite his young age.
Goossens plays Elias, a 14-year-old living in rural Belgium with his loving and mostly normal family — the slight exception being his father, Luk (Geert Van Rampelberg), who, while a pretty straight arrow in a personal sense, is enjoying unlikely success as a midlife pop sensation, with a hit single in the pipeline.
The film opens with dad belting out his signature number, which is all about how “first love lights the fire in your heart,” which of course turns out to be a decent summary of the film.
Shortly after, the family get a new neighbor in the form of Alexander (Marius De Saeger). Elias lacks the emotional vocabulary to articulate quite what the sense of awkwardness and intrigue that he feels around the newcomer might mean.
Read more on variety.com
