De surprise

I loved everything about this movie!! So original and I didn't mind reading the captions when they were not speaking English. The humor kept it from being too morbid. The actors were superb!

I liked the leads except when one of them was speaking English and had a terrible accent.

The gardener was also good, but some of the other characters were rather wooden.

Some nice twists and turns in the story and some nice buildings and cars to look at.

At two or three points I laughed a lot, but not the whole way through.

In the hands of a typical Hollywood studios this would be a watered down formula movie, but I found the drama to stand out the most. It's a mistake to simply call this a romantic comedy. It is first and foremost a drama starting out as an examination of people in pain. And slowly embracing the quirky yet twisted predicament that ensues.

Director Mike van Diem is back with his new movie after 18 years.

A mother expecting her death, an emotionless son, the movie begins like this. After the death of his mother, the hero tries several methods to commit suicide, but all in vain. In search of death, he encounters some Indian people who are running a business to help to commit suicide. As usual, he meets the heroine there, who is also looking for the same. Her company brings radical changes in his emotions, he laughs, become angry and as expected hope of life grows in him. Now he needs to get rid of the killers or at-least a delay. The plot is similar to Malayalam movie "Kaakkakkum Poochakkum Kallyaanam". The amazing treatment along with the smaller and bigger "Surprises" makes this movie unique and a different experience.

There are some unique similarities with the director's previous movie "Karakter". The absence of love or in this case, he has a glass barrier between him and the real world. The hero grows up without the presence of his father is also a common factor. Beautiful visuals, production design, actors are the great highlights of the movie.

I casually came across this film and decided to watch it since I really do enjoy most foreign films. I'm always pleasantly surprised by them and tend to appreciate them more than I do recent American cinema. I WILL NOT give anything away. The movie's title definitely lived up to its name. It helps that I didn't know anything whatsoever about the actors, the director, the core plot, etc. Beautifully and masterfully done. It was a great way to spend an afternoon. This film should not be missed, most especially by those of us who enjoy quirky characters and equally quirky plots. I genuinely loved this film!! Highly recommended!