“L’Enfant” is yet another unremittingly bleak, emotionally devastating film from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes — this one is about a 20-year-old street hustler whose lust for quick, easy cash sends his life spiraling forever downward.

Bruno (Jérémie Renier) runs the streets of Paris, panhandling here, doing some petty theft there and setting up deals whenever he can. When his 18-year-old girlfriend Sonia (Déborah François) returns from the hospital with their 9-day-old baby boy, she discover Bruno has temporarily sublet their apartment and can’t easily be found.

When she does track him down, the pair end up in a shelter for the night. Then he blows most of his cash buying a stroller and renting a car for a day in the country. Always pressed for money, Bruno makes his critical bad move: He calls one of his hustler acquaintances who has suggested that the couple sell the baby.

Taking the train to a suburban location, Bruno leaves the baby in a room. A few minutes later, his phone rings. He goes back to the room. The baby is gone, replaced by an envelope filled with cash.

That act triggers a series of very negative consequences for Bruno as the Dardennes explore yet another element of morality in conflict with an amoral world, the theme of all their films. That the picture is so effective is a tribute to their ability to unblinkingly focus on a small, painful story. But it is also evidence of the strength of the performances of Renier and François.

François brings an innocence to Sonia that stands in sharp contrast to Bruno’s street-smart worldliness; she convincingly portrays the love and protectiveness of a new mother who has to battle against her affections for Bruno to save her baby.

But Renier is the centerpiece of the film and he inhabits Bruno, making him a complete person with a roguish charm. That keeps him from becoming a cardboard-cutout villain. Instead, he comes off as a confused kid whose get-the-cash-now philosophy crumbles down around him, leaving him with nothing.

“L’Enfant” is a typical European film, shot very naturalistically on the streets and inside buildings that are clearly not sets. That lack of high gloss isn’t just style, it is key to creating the realism that allows the morality play to function.

That realism continues throughout the film, all the way down to the “action” scenes in which a mugging is a real street shakedown and the chase finds a sedan pursuing a motor scooter. Not exactly Hollywood — a very good thing.

“L’Enfant” is also very slow moving. The Dardennes are more interested in the psychological and emotional aspects of the story and let the camera linger and the actors act. That could make the movie tough to sit through for those accustomed to our MTV quick-cut, short-attention-span pictures.

But for those who are willing to slow down, “L’Enfant” delivers a quietly powerful moral message that continues to resonate long after the lights go up.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or at kwolgamott@journalstar.com.