The Life Ahead (2020)

Nominated for Best Original Song    This is basically just The Kid with a Bike, except with a Holocaust twist to make it more sad.  The song is very pretty, though.

Momo (Ibrahima Gueye) is a 12-year-old troublemaker looking for a place to belong.  After he is caught stealing, his guardian, Dr. Coen (Renato Carpentieri), sends him to live with the woman he robbed, Madame Rosa (Sophia Loren), a Holocaust survivor who runs a day care for the children of prostitutes.  Dr. Coen think's Rosa's tough love is exactly what Momo needs.  But Rosa isn't getting any younger and her past traumas begin to catch up with her, threatening to destabilize the only home Momo knows.

Honestly, I had a lot of problems watching this film.  It shortcut through any real emotional development between Rosa and Momo and spent way too much time on the drug dealing subplot.  Also, really concerned that neither of the children in the film knew what Auschwitz was.  I don't know that there's a good age to bring up the Holocaust, but I'm also not super comfortable letting kids try and discover that shit for themselves.  The Life Ahead is currently streaming on Netflix.  Watch The Kid with a Bike instead.