I also had this feeling with the other Dardenne's film I've seen, Le fils. I think it has something to do with the overall humanism I feel in these films, a sense that the persons portrayed are more like models and are interchangable, something like with Bresson. And the scope is almost "Dostojevskian", everything is very huge and dramatic, although they are telling rather intimate stories. It has also something to do with the inward being projected outwardly, a way of making the subjective view of the character their own, without giving him/her limits. Like everything could happen any moment, very dramatically condensed, rather "direct" storylines. 
This isn't meant in a negative way, but it's how i perceive it. 
Somehow it is like these characters could be living anywhere in the world and stuff like that is imo happening every day around our globe. It's just that people don't see the beauty and spirituality in their lives as easily as an outsider (or maybe life is too complex to be compressed into 90 minutes ) 
In between Days stays much more on the surface of the main character but at the same time makes her less mysterious and powerful, and redemption is presented in a different way. More of a passing look at things with a weary smile, than a dash into the mud and a final ray of light.