No One Knows What They’re Doing in Holland

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As a movie enthusiast, I must say that Holland, Michigan, seems like a genuine town, but watching the movie “Holland” on Amazon Prime could easily make one think otherwise. Director Mimi Cave captures this place with an almost theme-park precision, creating a Dutch-inspired Midwestern community that appears untouched by reality. The perpetual sunshine, vibrant greenery, and the ever-approaching Tulip Festival give it an air of surreal perfection. Characters seem to be moving through syrup rather than air, as if they’re part of a carefully preserved Americana tableau.

Nicole Kidman’s character, Nancy Vandergroot, often speaks of her life as if it’s a tranquil dream, describing it as feeling like a dream itself. The surreal atmosphere suggests a high-concept twist is imminent, perhaps a la “Don’t Worry Darling” or “The Stepford Wives.” However, I must warn you that if you’re expecting such plot developments, you may be disappointed. While there is a twist in “Holland,” it’s of the more traditional “darkness lurking beneath suburbia” variety, which makes the film’s stylistic choices even more bewildering. In essence, the “hallucinatory utopia” that Nancy perceives is just her unique perspective on her world.

In the movie “Holland“, it’s noticeable that Cave struggles with maintaining the right tone, a trait that was somewhat present in her 2022 cannibal-thriller debut “Fresh“. Despite an outstanding performance from Sebastian Stan as a nightmare foodie-bro character, the film failed to fully exploit its satirical potential. Unfortunately, this problem escalates in the new movie, causing confusion for the actors and leaving viewers feeling bewildered about their roles.

In the role of Nancy, a mother, wife, and high-school home-ec teacher, Kidman adopts an overly innocent demeanor, treating her character’s suspicions of her husband’s infidelity with an excessive enthusiasm reminiscent of Nancy Drew. Matthew Macfadyen, as Fred, the town’s ophthalmologist and possibly unfaithful spouse, resorts to a blandness that has become his trademark. Gael García Bernal, playing Dave Delgado, the shop teacher who befriends Nancy, attempts to mimic Kidman’s innocent demeanor, but also must portray sudden outbursts of ugliness, creating an uneven performance.

The film is set in 2000, but its Pleasantville aesthetic and the near-lobotomized quality of its characters give it a feel that it’s meant to be set in an alternative 1950s era.

The screenplay for the film titled “Holland,” penned by Andrew Sodroski, a collaborator from the series “Manhunt,” was among the Blacklist scripts that circulated for years, narrowly missing production (Errol Morris was initially slated to direct). Some highly-rated Blacklist scripts seem more designed for reading than filming, but if you squint, the allure of “Holland” becomes apparent. The script exhibits a Coen brothers-esque portrayal of Nancy and Dave’s escapades as they delve into uncovering Fred’s activities, offering them mystery and thrill – a blend of “Fargo” and “The Man Who Wasn’t There.” However, “Holland” lacks the Coen brothers’ mastery and dry wit. It can be argued that the film primarily revolves around a white woman’s complacency, though its portrayal of this state as a dreamlike innocence serves more to justify her mindset than to shed light on it. The reason “Holland” seems perpetually on the brink of a grander revelation, a shattering event that explains its own heightened artificiality, is because it fails to provide insight into its main character, the enigmatic place she claims she was in before meeting her husband, her fixation on feeling secure, and whether her feelings up to that point were apathy or satisfaction. It appears that no one involved with “Holland” fully grasps its purpose – a state that seems fitting for Nicole Kidman, the busiest actress in Hollywood at present, who has already moved on to her next project.

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2025-03-28 21:56