The films of Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne make up a body of work that is unrivaled in its realist, deeply humane focus on how those who exist on the margins of society—the poor, criminals, immigrants—must constantly face enormous moral decisions in their struggle for more secure, stable lives in a global economy. Lorna, an Albanian immigrant living in the Belgian city of Liege, shares an apartment with a heroin addict named Claudy. They have a sham marriage that allows her to legally live in the country, where she dreams of opening up a café with her boyfriend. But the mobster who arranged their marriage is now planning to kill Claudy—with Lorna’s help—in a planned overdose so she can marry a Russian who’s willing to pay a steep price for Belgianresidency papers. Though profoundly critical of the punishing, frequently inhumane forces of late capitalism, the films of the Dardenne brothers aren’t simplistic political screeds. Lorna, like all of the Dardennes’ protagonists, isn’t merely a one-dimensional emblem of suffering, but a multifaceted character who must make—and live with—her own decisions.
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