Ferry

This film is such a great lead in to the Undercover series. I enjoyed it immensely. Nothing spectacular, just really solid entertainment. I envy those that are introduced to the series via this film. It is perfect as a lead in to the series. Season one of Undercover is terrific.. Season two not so much but still pretty solid.

This film is a prequel to Belgian/Dutch crime series 'Undercover'; it shows how season one antagonist went from being an enforcer for an Amsterdam crime boss to being involved in the ecstasy trade. Since this takes place before the series it is no necessary to have seen it first.

Ferry works as enforcer for a crime boss named Ralph Brink. One day a gang attacks the property where Brink's has his money stored. During the robbery Brink's son is shot and seriously wounded. Ferry promises to find those responsible and eliminate them. He identifies one of those involved and tracks him down. This leads to another name; a man staying at a campsite in Belgium; here he meets the woman who viewers of 'Undercover' know will become his wife. He also meets other familiar characters; some for the first time, others he knows well.

I found this to be a solid gangster film. Ferry was a great character in 'Undercover' so it is fun to see how he got to where he was in that series; in particular it was great seeing how he met Danielle and how his involvement with her ultimately introduces him to the possibilities of entering the ecstasy business. The story has the same feel as the series. For me that is a good thing, films that try to be bigger than the series they are based on tend to feel too different. The cast did a solid job; especially Frank Lammers and Elise Schaap as Ferry and Danielle. There is a decent amount of action, and, even though we know certain characters must survive because they are in the series, it is tense at times. There is also a modicum of humour. Overall a solid film; a must see for fans in 'Undercover' and highly recommended for fans of gangster movies.

If you like the Dutch series Undercover, you like this movie for sure. I was hooked from the start, excellent character development and the movie takes you along an easy to follow story. The revelation was not expected, love it! As we say in Brabant: Da is een kei goeie film!

Having loved in The Netherlands for the last 25 years, I have met characters like Ferry involved in work where you don't really know what they do but know they know people.

A very good realistic portrayal of how the old school Amsterdam mafia works.

The story shows how traumatic childhood experiences can impact their whole life and way of being.

A good well written script and excellent acting made this movie enjoyable to watch.

It shows a side of Holland that not many tourists will see. It takes us from Amsterdam to the province of Brabant in the south of the country where dialect and way of life is different, surprisingly for a small country.

Recommend.

Admittedly this film is probably very much one for the fans of Undercover. If you aren't already familiar with Ferry from that series, you might not be as excited about this film, but if you enjoyed the series you won't feel let down by this movie prequel.

Yes, some major characters from Undercover are missing, but given that this is a prequel set a good few years before season one, it wouldn't make sense for them to be present. Instead Ferry is placed front and centre and we get a great backstory to the events that ultimately led to him being investigated in Undercover.

Chronologically you could watch this before watching Undercover, but I liked the fact that I already knew aspects of Ferry and Dani prior to watching this and Filip's cameo is definitely funnier.

It's brutal in places, as we've come to expect from Undercover, but there are also touching moments and humour too. Frank Lammers imbues a character that could very easily have been a two dimensional monster with a degree of sympathy. If Undercover continues (and I hope it will), we don't know if Ferry will make another appearance, so this is potentially us saying goodbye to him. I'll definitely watch this again.