Young Ahmed (Belgium, 2019)

It seems insane to demonize well-behaved children, but look at all the things---Tom Sawyer for one---where bratty kids are the heroes and obedient children are actual villains. There was a Danish sit-com on Netflix where a free-spirited teacher calls a girl a Nazi because she does her homework and tries to do well in school.

On the other hand, Young Ahmed is about a dyslexic tween who is deeply religious, has a strong sense of morality and likes to please at least some of the grown-ups. He's a member of a fundamentalist Wahhabi mosque and tries to murder his teacher for heresy.

There was no harm done and the court sends him to an honor farm. Normally, they'd probably WANT a juvenile delinquent to find religion. In this case, they should get him to loosen up, but in one scene, when he wants to go someplace with a girl he's made friends with, they remind him it's almost time for his afternoon prayers.

Available on the Criterion Channel. Directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne won Best Director at Cannes.