Terug naar de kust

"Terug naar de kust" (Back to the coast) is an adaption of the Dutch novel of the same name by Saskia Noort. Not having read the book, I started watching it expecting some mediocre Dutch over-dramatized flick with bad acting. But in the end, I was quite pleasantly surprised that it wasn't half bad.

The story revolves around Maria, played by Linda de Mol, a mother of two that sings in a band with her often drunk and unfaithful boyfriend. After breaking up with him and having an abortion (against his will), Maria starts getting threatening letters. Add a rather creepy fan of her band that seems to be stalking Maria, and she leaves town to stay at her parents' old house at the coast, where now Maria's sister lives. We learn rather traumatic things took place here in Maria's youth, involving her mother's descent into madness.

A series of events commence, causing Maria to feel more and more unsafe and trust no-one, while the people around her are starting to think she is becoming crazy, like her mother. Initially fighting this belief, Maria eventually starts questioning her own sanity, where Linda de Mol's emotional acting contributed to the doubt that arose in both herself and her surroundings, and me as the viewer.

While not spectacular, the film does have an interesting ending, where everything becomes clear to the viewer.

In short, a film without any outstanding acting, extreme originality, or inspiring dialogue, but on the other hand, I couldn't find any terribly bad elements either. An enjoyable, decent psychological movie, but don't expect anything amazing.

6/10

This film is utter crap ! If it would be possible to give negative stars this one would rate about - 8.It's a DUTCH movie.Consisering you'r warned , I now start with my review. Linda de Mol who 'plays 'the main part is 'acting' like a Robot.There is no sense of any Real emotion in her character whatsoever.She is a very popular TV personality here in the Low-Lands,The perfect daughter-in-law so to say...She is a guarantee for a Full-house...but my goldfish does it better !The script is horrifiying poor and predictable...the photography make one shiver...f.i there is the constantly play with dept-of-field..which dulls the total camera work. Even great actors,as we Dutch like to call them , like Pierre Bokma put their career at stake by appearing in this 'monster '...Pierre's part adds nothing what-so-ever to the story... which is soooo baaad.

BTW, the make-up artist who toughed Linda's face should apply for a house painting job !

anyway these kind of movies still give you a great time...because you die laughing the whole piece through.

it's a shame to realize people actually payed money to go to the cinema to see this thing....

I try to watch all Dutch movies because I like Holland. I also watch other movies too so that was surprising for me that "Terug Naar De Kust" is quite similar to 1992 American romantic movie "The Bodyguard" (starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.)

BACK TO THE COAST: -- THE BODYGUARD: Maria is a singer / Rachel is a singer -- Maria receives hate letters / Rachel receives hate letters -- Maria's sister is Jealous / Rachel's sister is jealous too !!

Another problem is when they released the DVD even did not bother to add English subtitles for that. It seems they just produced the film for domestic market.

Dutch cinema is improving. Some good films such as "Black Book" and "Sonny Boy" have been produced. In this atmosphere, in my opinion, "Terug Naar De Kust" is a backward! :(

A very good movie for the Netherlands. I'm from the Netherlands and I was very curious for this movie. It was a blind buy on Blu-ray for me cause I already went to "komt een vrouw bij de dokter" in the cinema.

Lindag de Mol is the star here and she fits her role perfectly. It is supposed to be a thriller but there are only a few moments. The main aspect of the film is that you travel to the past of the main character to understand what is happening today in her life. The movie is steady paced and builds up nicely without dull moments.

The acting is solid from all actors and the movie has a sad, dark feeling overall. It is not supposed to be a happy movie but the mood is nice to be in as you have sympathy for the main character.

This is a who dun-nit movie but my biggest disappointment in this movie is that you discover the person who did it long before Linda does. That does not make the movie bad though as it is nice to see how it all ends up story-wise.

I did not read the book as I don't read books so if you read the book then I don't know if you are going to be disappointed. Considering that you can figure out who the bad guy is I think the movie stands very good on its own anyway.

Linda is the real star here but don't forget the others. They deliver strong performances overall! 8 out of 10

The rock 'n' roll singer Maria (Linda de Mol) raises her son and her daughter alone and her unfaithful boyfriend, the guitarist Geert (Daan Schuurmans), is living with her. When she sees Geert cheating on her, she decides to break with him. Immediately after, she finds that she is pregnant and decides to abort the baby against Geert's will. Soon she finds that someone is stalking and sending photo of her abortion to her but the police detective Van Wijk (Pierre Bokma) does not give much attention to her. Maria travels with her children to the house of her sister Ans (Ariane Schluter), who is a psychologist and was dumped by her boyfriend a couple of days ago, expecting to stay with her for a short period. Soon bad things happen to Maria and Van Wijk believes she is the responsible asking for attention. But her troubles do not stop to escalate.

"Terug naar de kust", a.k.a. "The Dark House" (2009), is a predictable but entertaining Dutch thriller not released in Brazil. I saw this film in a KLM's flight without any previous reference and the plot is not so bad as indicated in many reviews. It is predictable who the stalker is and Detective Van Wijk is a ridiculous character, but there are interesting scenes and situations along the plot. The conclusion is also not bad. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available.