[2] When her probationary employment ends without her being hired, Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne) engages in a violent struggle against her manager and the policemen when she refuses to leave the premises.

She returns home to "The Grand Canyon," the caravan park where she lives with her alcoholic mother, who mends worn clothes for Rosetta to sell to charity shops.

Unable to receive unemployment pay, refusing to take welfare, and desperate for work, Rosetta asks around for vacancies until she comes upon a waffle stand.

She befriends the worker, Riquet (Fabrizio Rongione), and asks the owner (Olivier Gourmet) for a job, without success.

Later, she discovers that Riquet has been selling his own waffles during business hours, due to him offering her an under-the-table job helping him mix the batter.

Rosetta was released to overwhelmingly positive reception by American mainstream press and critics, who cited the lack of a musical score and use of a handheld camera throughout its production as a major factor in its overall unique tone.

[2] Derek Elley of Variety notes the film is "Anchored by a performance of grim determination and almost feral instincts from its lead actress, 'Rosetta' is an extremely small European art movie from Belgian brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne that will alienate as many viewers as it wins over.

"[4] Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave a more critical review due to the prevalent gloom, stating Rosetta "is so clinically detached from its subject and its screenplay so minimal that we never really feel the title character's intense suffering or even get to know her very well.

"[2] Roger Ebert gave Rosetta three and a half stars in Chicago Sun-Times noting its "neorealist, without pedigree, downbeat, stylistically straightforward" nature.

"[6] Peter Bradshaw writing for The Guardian lauded Rosetta to be "a rigorous transforming gaze, a strange and passionate urgency.

"[7] Jonathan Rosenbaum reviewing for Chicago Reader extolled the film as showing an extraordinary capability of maintaining an objective view into the world of the protagonist and "the most visceral filmgoing experience of the past year, including all of Hollywood's explosions and special-effects extravaganzas".

Jean-Pierre Dufreigne reviewing for L'Express highly recommended Rosetta to readers regardless of polarization because of its tenacious depiction of youth straining to preserve their integrity while bearing adult responsibilities and the effective use of the camera to capture the essence of the protagonist.

[16] Contrary to popular belief, the film did not inspire a new so-called "Rosetta Law" in Belgium that prohibited employers from paying teen workers less than the minimum wage and included other youth labour reforms.

In a Guardian interview with the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre explained the misconception; "No, that law already existed, it just hadn't been voted through yet.