April, May en June

I heard Olga Zuiderhoek speak of this movie in a talk show. Weeks later I stumbled upon this on Netflix and was hooked from the first scene with the three (half) sisters and their brother. Great plot, nice texts and the best of Dutch acting at work. Very recognisable family scenes (the little brat, the over-protective mother), although mine are (luckily) less complicated, so far. Then again, it all worked out well. I laughed out loud a lot, and truthfully, shed a small tear as well. A very Dutch movie in the beste sense of the word(s): blunt, in your face, true to life, and death. The end was quick, bringing all the story lines to a good end. I really enjoyed this.

The movie has some good humorous moments. but generally somewhat lengthy. Also the story could have been a little more deepened.

Even though the main story line is a serious and maybe even important one, all the other story lines are very superficial. They are rushed and it had major plot holes. It feels like they want a season of some kind of soap series put in one movie.

The characters and dialogues are neither deep nor witty with a few exceptions. It feels like they're making fun of people with autism (a bad copy of the real Kees, a Dutch person with autism who's portrayed in a documentary) and transgenders.

I really do like actors Tjitske Reidinga and Elise Schaap in general, but they need to say no to these kinds of below average projects. They are worth better material to work with.

The film is generally, ok, but the guy playing Jan is very unbelievable.

It's all subjective I guess. But this movie was just great to watch. Good story telling, I love the down to earthiness of the characters. A bit boring, but that's exactly what life is. It felt like life. And that's what I enjoy in movies like this. I don't want drama or excessive humor. Life is enough, especially when dealing with horrible situations I like to not overplay it.

It was a great movie. Good actors. A believable story. Only negative being the emphasis on April's character, I would've preferred if it was shared more. Maybe it was, but it didn't feel like it.

Overal highly recommend if you like this style. But I understand it's a taste thing.