Ahmed (Idir Ben Addi) is a 13-year-old Belgian boy who, for reasons never explained in the somewhat exasperating drama Young Ahmed, has come under the sway of a radical imam. A taciturn and studious-looking boy, Ahmed has developed a narrow, intolerant view of his more moderate Muslim family, school, and his old activities. ("A month ago, you were playing video games," his mother says with confusion and anger.) Ahmed denounces his sister for the clothes she wears, condemns the wine his mother serves at dinner and refuses the customary ritual of kissing his mom goodnight or shaking his female teacher's hand when he departs her classroom. He panics if he might be delayed from prayer at appointed hours, and has all but cut himself off from social life. There is no father around, which may have a lot to do with Ahmed's allegiance to the imam, who fills his head with the "need" to defend his religion by attacking everyone who is an "apostate."
When Ahmed's math teacher, Ines (Myriem Akheddiou), proposes teaching an Arab-language class using secular materials instead of the Quran, Ahmed takes it upon himself to try to murder her. Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Young Ahmed takes a ponderous approach to the most pedestrian scenes, tracking Ahmed's every step at a working farm for juvenile offenders, or forcing us repeatedly to watch him perform watery, religious ablutions in a bathroom. The result proves wearing on a viewer and doesn't establish a rhythm or pace that draws one into this troubled character's inner world. Of note, however, is how Belgian society treats Ahmed with compassion and patience, despite his crimes, which further sets him apart from a secular mainstream that genuinely cares about him but which he seeks to destroy. The Dardennes seem to be asking us to empathize with Ahmed, but his newly formed terrorist instincts and wobbly commitment to redemption make that hard. Lightly recommended.