And Stranger/Mercury writer Ned Lannamann says it's cause for celebration:

The budding anger of a boy who’s been utterly fucked over by his father (Cyril’s mother isn’t mentioned) is the fuel for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s The Kid with a Bike, but the Belgian film deals with Cyril’s preteen angst with such sincerity and simplicity that it feels completely, refreshingly potent. Doret never lapses into cuteness, so we’re drawn into Cyril’s unsmiling but unbreakable optimism—surely his dad wants him back, there just must be some extenuating circumstances. When boy and father do come face to face, it’s heartbreaking, of course, but the Dardennes keep it muted, eliminating all threat of melodrama.

Read the whole thing here (and find movie times here).