Cyril is an angry young man, and rightfully so. Whether due to his circumstances of part of his nature, Cyril has a rambunctious and defiant spirit. Having been abandoned by his father to the local orphanage, he is constantly on the run in a search for belonging, causing him to collide with Samantha, a warmhearted hairdresser who compassionately takes Cyril into her home. Cyril’s habits of fleeing or fighting don’t magically disappear with this newfound relationship with Samantha. He injures her, both emotionally and physically. Why does she continue to extend grace to this defiant young man? Why does she even bother to let him into her life and her heart? Cyril openly demands these questions from her, and she can offer only a quiet shrug: she doesn’t know. We are not given clear reasons for her grace; we only know that grace is. The Kid with a Bike is The 400 Blows meets Bicycle Thieves meets the mercy of God. As Cyril rushes through the city on his bike, his vermillion shirt waving in the wind as his fierce eyes scan the horizon, I am seeing a picture of the prodigal son searching for his home.
—Joel Mayward