Category:Children--2010s (film subject)

Children--2010s (film subject)

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The Impossible (2012)
Like Father, Like Son (2013)
There Book Thief (2013)
Room (2015)
Heidi (2015)
A Bag of Marbles (2017)
Capernaum (2018)

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2010

March 18, 2010 -- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Freudenthal), film -- Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron & Chloë Grace Moretz -- A highly entertaining box-office hit and a coming-of-age cult favorite based on Jeff Kinney's celebrated book series. Twelve-year-old Zachary Gordon delivers an endlessly charismatic and comedic performance as Greg Heffley, a boy navigating the absolute social minefield of starting middle school. Backed by Robert Capron as his fiercely loyal and sweet best friend Rowley, Gordon brilliantly captures the hilarious and relatable trials of childhood social climbing, bullying, and domestic family chaos.

June 07, 2010 -- The Karate Kid (Zwart), film -- Jaden Smith -- A massive global box-office triumph and a lavish modern reimagining of the 1984 classic, produced by Will Smith and set entirely in China. At the age of twelve, a highly athletic Jaden Smith turns in a grueling, tour-de-force performance as Dre Parker, a Detroit kid forced to relocate to Beijing. Under the guidance of his apartment's quiet maintenance man, Mr. Han (played by the legendary Jackie Chan), Smith completely steals the show by demonstrating immense physical dedication and emotional grit through intense martial arts training to confront a ruthless pack of local kung fu bullies.

October 14, 2010 -- Lost in Africa [Kidnappet] (Muasya), film -- Simon Larsen -- A tense, gritty, and deeply emotional Danish dramatic thriller exploring cultural identity and family ties. Young Simon Larsen gives a wonderfully expressive and vulnerable performance as Simon, an 11-year-old boy born in Kenya but happily adopted by a wealthy Danish family. While on vacation in Nairobi, Simon chases his beloved soccer ball into the sprawling, labyrinthine slums of Kibera and gets lost, delivering a powerful performance as a sheltered Western kid forced to survive the harsh reality of urban poverty while being hunted by opportunistic local kidnappers.

2011

February 24, 2011 -- Lessons of a Dream [Der ganz große Traum] (Grobler), film -- Adrian Moore & Theo Trebs -- A beautifully crafted and uplifting German historical sports drama based on the true story of soccer pioneer Konrad Koch. While Daniel Brühl leads the adult cast, the film's emotional heart relies entirely on an exceptional ensemble of young students, highlighted by Adrian Moore as the impoverished, bullied working-class orphan Joost Bornstedt, and Theo Trebs as the rigid class captain Felix Hartung. The boys shine on screen, demonstrating how the introduction of soccer helps break down entrenched social class structures and turns bitter schoolyard bullies into a united, loyal team.

May 18, 2011 -- The Kid with a Bike (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne), film -- Thomas Doret -- A gritty, emotionally direct French-Belgian co-production that serves as a modern spiritual successor to Bicycle Thieves. Newcomer Thomas Doret gives a powerful, physically explosive performance as Cyril, a turbulent 12-year-old boy abandoned by his father who aggressively searches for his lost bicycle while desperately clinging to the kindness of a local hairdresser.

June 08, 2011 -- Super 8 (Abrams), film -- Joel Courtney & Elle Fanning -- A highly acclaimed, beautifully nostalgic sci-fi mystery adventure produced by Steven Spielberg. The film features a spectacularly authentic and tightly-knit ensemble cast of children, led by newcomer Joel Courtney (Joe Lamb) and a magnificent Elle Fanning (Alice Dainard). Set in 1979, the plot follows a group of small-town preteens filming a homemade zombie movie on a Super 8 camera who witness a catastrophic military train derailment, accidentally unleashing a massive alien creature into their community and capturing a perfect blend of childhood wonder, loss, and pure suspense.

Nov 23, 2011 -- Hugo (Scorsese), film -- Asa Butterfield & Chloë Grace Moretz -- A monumental, visually spectacular 3D historical fantasy directed by Martin Scorsese, which won 5 Academy Awards. A brilliant Asa Butterfield delivers a deeply soulful, intense performance as Hugo Cabret, a 12-year-old orphan who lives clandestinely inside the walls of a bustling 1930s Paris railway station, maintaining its massive clocks. Wonderfully paired with Chloë Grace Moretz as the eccentric Isabelle, Butterfield carries the film's magical narrative as he unlocks a mechanical automation left by his late father, transforming the story into a gorgeous love letter to the birth of early cinema history.

2012

May 25, 2012 -- Moonrise Kingdom (Anderson), film -- Jared Gilman & Kara Hayward -- A highly acclaimed, eccentric, and visually stunning Wes Anderson comedy-drama. Set on a New England island in 1965, newcomers Jared Gilman (Sam Shakusky) and Kara Hayward (Suzy Bishop) deliver wonderfully deadpan, mature, and natural performances as two highly articulate, misunderstood 12-year-old outcasts. The film chronicles their meticulously planned, rebellious escape into the wilderness together, creating an enduring, nostalgic, and deeply poignant portrayal of young love and childhood isolation.

June 27, 2012 -- Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin), film -- Quvenzhané Wallis -- A raw, visually mythic indie masterpiece that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and earned four Academy Award nominations. At just six years old during filming, Quvenzhané Wallis gives an absolute tour-de-force, fierce, and elemental performance as Hushpuppy, a resilient girl living in an isolated Louisiana bayou community known as "The Bathtub". Wallis anchors the entire film with an astonishing screen presence, processing her father’s failing health and an environmental cataclysm through a lens of raw survival, making her the youngest Best Actress nominee in Oscar history.

September 09, 2012 -- The Impossible (Bayona), film -- Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin & Oaklee Pendergast -- A harrowing, technically brilliant, and deeply moving biographical disaster drama based on the real-life survival story of María Belón and her family during the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Making his phenomenal live-action feature film debut, a young Tom Holland delivers a powerhouse, emotionally charged performance as Lucas Bennett, the eldest son who must suddenly grow up to protect and care for his severely injured mother (Naomi Watts) amidst the chaotic, waterlogged wreckage of Thailand. Accompanied by Samuel Joslin and Oaklee Pendergast as his separated younger brothers, Holland's raw physical dedication and gripping maturity ground the film's terrifying spectacle in profound familial love and human resilience.

2013

May 18, 2013 -- Like Father, Like Son [Soshite Chichi ni Naru] (Kore-eda), film -- Keita Ninomiya & Shogen Hwang -- A piercing, elegant, and quietly devastating Japanese family drama that won the prestigious Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Six-year-old child actor Keita Ninomiya delivers an extraordinarily tender, natural, and heartbreaking performance as Keita Nonomiya, a sweet and gentle boy caught in a nightmare when his comfortable, career-driven father (Masaharu Fukuyama) suddenly discovers that Keita was accidentally switched at birth in the hospital. Facing a profound ethical dilemma between nature and nurture, the young boy's innate innocence and quiet emotional shifts anchor a beautifully meditative story about what truly constitutes the bond of fatherhood.

May 26, 2013 -- Mud (Nichols), film -- Tye Sheridan & Jacob Lofland -- A gripping, atmospheric, and highly praised contemporary Southern coming-of-age drama. A young Tye Sheridan (Ellis) and debutant Jacob Lofland (Neckbone) provide exceptional, deeply grounded performances as two 14-year-old Arkansas boys who discover a mysterious fugitive named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) hiding out on a river island. Sheridan shines as a fiercely romantic yet vulnerable boy who agrees to help the stranger reunite with his true love, capturing a raw, honest look at the painful transition from boyhood idealism to the complex realities of adult relationships.

October 03, 2013 -- The Book Thief (Percival), film -- Sophie Nélisse & Nico Liersch -- A gorgeous, somber, and deeply affecting wartime drama adapted from Markus Zusak's celebrated historical fiction novel. Fourteen-year-old Canadian actress Sophie Nélisse turns in a spectacular, deeply moving performance as Liesel Meminger, an illiterate young orphan girl sent to live with a kind foster father (Geoffrey Rush) in 1938 Nazi Germany. Nélisse anchors the entire narrative with incredible grace, capturing how her character discovers the life-saving magic of literacy by rescue-stealing books from Nazi bonfires, using the power of words to protect a Jewish refugee hiding in her basement and share solace with her best friend Rudy (Nico Liersch) during devastating air raids.

2014

January 17, 2014 -- The Babadook (Kent), film -- Noah Wiseman -- A universally acclaimed, deeply unsettling psychological horror masterpiece from Australia. Seven-year-old Noah Wiseman delivers an incredibly intense, raw, and high-energy performance as Samuel, a troubled, hyperactive boy building homemade weapons to protect his single mother from an imagined monster. When a sinister children's pop-up book titled Mister Babadook manifests in their home, Wiseman brilliantly captures the escalating terror and fierce protective instinct of a child trying to save his grieving, unraveling mother, anchoring one of the most provocative and acclaimed horror films of the century.

January 19, 2014 -- Boyhood (Linklater), film -- Ellar Coltrane & Lorelei Linklater -- A landmark, monumental cinematic achievement that won universal acclaim as a masterpiece. Filmed in short annual bursts over a 12-year period, Ellar Coltrane grows from a six-year-old dreamer into an 18-year-old young man entirely in real time on screen. Alongside Lorelei Linklater as his sister, Coltrane provides an extraordinarily natural, understated, and authentic performance as Mason Evans Jr., capturing the cumulative, unscripted milestones of a Texas adolescence amidst changing family dynamics, first loves, and the slow, poignant passage of time.

2015

September 04, 2015 -- Room (Abrahamson), film -- Jacob Tremblay -- A devastatingly powerful, minimalist, and emotionally charging drama that earned widespread critical acclaim and an Academy Award. Eight-year-old Jacob Tremblay turns in a spectacular, career-defining tour-de-force performance as Jack, a five-year-old boy who has spent his entire life held captive with his mother in a single, cramped garden shed. Tremblay dominates the screen with an astonishing emotional range, seamlessly shifting from the innocent, resilient imagination of a child shielded from a grim reality to the overwhelming, claustrophobic sensory shock of experiencing the outside world for the very first time.

December 10, 2015 -- Heidi (Gsponer), film -- Anuk Steffen & Quirin Agrippi -- A beautiful, wholesome, and scenic Swiss-German period piece that became the most successful Swiss film at the international box office. Chosen from thousands of candidates, young Anuk Steffen delivers a wonderfully radiant, spirited, and natural performance as the iconic 19th-century orphan girl. Steffen completely wins hearts by capturing the pure, infectious joy of childhood freedom in the Swiss Alps beside her reclusive grandfather, while bringing a deeply moving, authentic sense of homesickness and resilience to her time serving as a companion in the cold, strict city of Frankfurt.

2016

May 18, 2016 -- Le voyage de Fanny [Fanny's Journey] (Doillon), film -- Léonie Souchaud, Fantine Harduin & Juliane Lepoureau -- An absorbing, deeply moving French-Belgian wartime drama inspired by the autobiographical memoir of Fanny Ben-Ami. Twelve-year-old Léonie Souchaud delivers a brilliant, exceptionally mature feature debut as Fanny, a brave Jewish girl hidden in a shelter in occupied France. When local caretakers are denounced, Fanny is unexpectedly forced to take charge of a group of eight children, leading them on a perilous, high-stakes journey across the countryside to reach the Swiss border. Souchaud beautifully captures the immense weight of leadership, resourcefulness, and fierce sisterly protection, transforming the film into a triumphant testament to childhood resilience under adversity.

July 26, 2006? No, 2016 -- Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton/Faris), film -- Abigail Breslin -- (Integration) One of the most celebrated and beloved road comedy-dramas of the new millennium. At just ten years old, Abigail Breslin delivers a wonderfully sweet, energetic, and purely natural performance as Olive Hoover, a quirky, bespectacled girl who unexpectedly qualifies for a children's beauty pageant in California. Breslin completely anchors the emotional core of the film, serving as the innocent catalyst that holds her deeply dysfunctional, eccentric family together inside a yellow Volkswagen bus, earning a historic Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

October 11, 2006? No, 2016 -- Pan's Labyrinth [El laberinto del fauno] (Del Toro), film -- Ivana Baquero -- (Integration) A towering dark fantasy masterpiece directed with profound visual poetry by Guillermo del Toro. Twelve-year-old Ivana Baquero gives a monumental, fiercely intelligent performance as Ofelia, a young book-loving girl traveling with her pregnant mother to live with her cruel new stepfather, a sadistic captain in Francoist Spain. Baquero dominates the screen with breathtaking dramatic weight, navigating the terrifying real-world horrors of military fascism by escaping into an ancient underground labyrinth populated by bizarre mythical creatures, winning the Goya Award for Best New Actress.

2017

January 15, 2017 -- Un sac de billes [A Bag of Marbles] (Duguay), film -- Dorian Le Clech & Batyste Fleurial -- A spectacular, emotionally gripping French-Canadian historical drama adapted from Joseph Joffo's legendary autobiographical novel. Ten-year-old Dorian Le Clech turns in a phenomenal, deeply soulful tour-de-force performance as Joseph, a young Jewish boy in occupied Paris. When the danger intensifies, Joseph and his older brother Maurice (Batyste Fleurial) are forced to split from their parents and travel entirely unassisted across Vichy France. Le Clech displays a striking emotional range, shifting from pure, unadulterated childhood innocence to fierce grit and clever survival instincts as the brothers evade Nazi forces to survive.

August 29, 2017 -- Atonement (Wright), film -- Saoirse Ronan -- (Integration) A lavish, devastatingly poignant British romantic drama based on Ian McEwan's masterpiece novel. Thirteen-year-old Saoirse Ronan makes a historic international breakthrough with a chillingly calculated, precise, and complex performance as Briony Tallis, a young girl with a vivid but dangerously naive literary imagination. Ronan masterfully captures the intense, watchful nature of an adolescent whose misunderstandings and subsequent lie alter the course of multiple adult lives forever, scoring an iconic Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Oct 06, 2017 -- The Florida Project (Baker), film -- Brooklynn Prince & Valeria Cotto -- A vibrant yet gritty slice-of-life masterpiece directed by Sean Baker. Shot largely on 35mm film, it brilliantly follows the joyful, blissfully ignorant summertime adventures of a precocious six-year-old girl living with her struggling mother at a budget motel just outside the gates of Walt Disney World.

October 11, 2017 -- L'école buissonnière [School of Life / Skip School] (Vanier), film -- Jean-andel -- A beautifully scenic, heartwarming French period comedy-drama set in 1930. Young newcomer Jean Scandel delivers an incredibly charming, robust, and spirited screen debut as Paul, a defiant, working-class orphan boy who is taken away from a dreary Paris orphanage to live on a vast, rustic countryside estate in Sologne. Left largely to his own devices, Scandel commands the screen with infectious curiosity as his character comes under the wing of Totoche (François Cluzet), a gruff but warm local poacher. Through illicit forest excursions and tracking wildlife, the young boy experiences a grand awakening to nature and uncovers a deep, buried family secret.

2018

May 13, 2018 -- Shoplifters [Manbiki Kazoku] (Kore-eda), film -- Jyo Kairi & Sasaki Miyu -- A deeply humanistic, heartbreaking Japanese masterpiece that won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Young actors Jyo Kairi (Shota) and Sasaki Miyu (Yuri/Lin) deliver extraordinarily tender, raw, and completely unforced performances as children tucked into a makeshift family of petty thieves living on the margins of Tokyo. The young actors carry the film's profound moral weight, beautifully capturing a quiet bond of love, shelter, and lost innocence that fractures when Shota begins to question their criminal lifestyle, anchoring a devastating exploration of what truly defines a family.

May 17, 2018 -- Capernaum [Capharnaüm] (Labaki), film -- Zain Al Rafeea -- A towering, visceral milestone of international neorealism that won the Jury Prize at Cannes and received an Academy Award nomination. In one of the most blistering, unforgettable child performances in cinema history, real-life Syrian refugee Zain Al Rafeea stars as Zain El Hajj, a fiercely cynical 12-year-old boy living in the slums of Beirut who decides to sue his own parents for the crime of giving him life. Al Rafeea completely dominates the screen with an astonishing, fierce maturity and weathered grit, navigating homelessness, poverty, and the protection of an abandoned toddler with a level of raw, heartbreaking truth that completely defines the film.

August 30, 2018 -- Roma (Cuarón), film -- Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Diego Cortina Autrey & Carlos Peralta -- (Integration) Alfonso Cuarón’s deeply intimate, multi-Academy Award-winning Mexican masterpiece. While the film centers on their indigenous domestic worker Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), the young ensemble of child actors—led by Marco Graf as Pepe—delivers a beautifully organic, natural performance as siblings growing up in a middle-class Mexico City household during the social turmoil of the early 1970s. The children's playful innocence, sudden domestic anxieties over their parents' dissolving marriage, and a terrifying, near-fatal ocean rescue sequence provide the raw emotional anchor for a deeply poetic cinematic memoir.

2019

May 14, 2019 -- The Innocents [De uskyldige] (Vogt), film -- Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad & Sam Ashraf -- (Integration) A masterfully tense, deeply unsettling Norwegian supernatural thriller that stands as a modern psychological masterpiece. The film features an incredibly tightly knit, exceptional ensemble of child actors who dominate the screen during a bright Nordic summer. When a group of preteens secretly discover they possess powerful telekinetic and telepathic abilities while away from the watchful eyes of their parents, the narrative spirals into a chilling, neorealistic battle of wills, capturing a raw, brilliant look at the dark moral boundaries of childhood innocence.

September 08, 2019 -- Jojo Rabbit (Waititi), film -- Roman Griffin Davis & Archie Yates -- A wildly popular, satirical wartime comedy-drama that won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Eleven-year-old newcomer Roman Griffin Davis delivers a spectacular, tour-de-force feature debut as Johannes "Jojo" Betzler, a lonely German boy whose blind fanatical patriotism is challenged when he discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. Davis handles the extreme tonal shifts from hilarious comedic satire to profound, crushing grief with breathtaking maturity, matched beautifully by Archie Yates as his endearing best friend Yorki, earning a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination.

November 22, 2019 -- Intemperie [Out in the Open] (Zambrano), film -- Jaime López -- A brutal, atmospheric, and highly praised Spanish neo-Western thriller adapted from Jesús Carrasco’s acclaimed novel. Young child actor Jaime López turns in a phenomenal, gritty, and deeply harrowing performance as "El Niño" (The Boy), an impoverished child who escapes a tyrannical local overseer and flees across a sun-scorched, post-war Spanish wasteland. López commands the screen with fierce, quiet resilience, portraying a deeply traumatized child forced to survive starvation and ruthless bounty hunters by forming a quiet, paternal bond of trust with an old, protective goatherd (Luis Tosar).