Noise

I keep wondering about the rationale behind Netflix producing films with such weak screenplays. The little intrigue that the film offers quickly evaporates once the second act comes on, and the hallucinatory visions the protagonist (Ward Kerremans) keeps having, lack purpose. The protagonist's wife (Sallie Harmsen) takes the perspective of the audience, trying to make sense of it all - hers is the only performance that I took fair notice of, in this mess. The mystery (or the lack of) is so terribly sketched that I felt it had nothing to achieve, even though the protagonist keeps making such a big, nonsensical fuss. The makers also add a couple of pointless jumpscares. In the end, it just feels like you wholly wasted 90-odd minutes.

This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It's like a bunch of people had a bunch of ideas and they just threw them all into a hat and put them together into a movie that makes absolutely no sense! There is zero backstory so you have no clue what's going on. The main male character is trying to figure out some sort of mystery about his father's old factory that has nothing to do with the other theme of the movie. People in town are rude to the main female character but we are never given a reason why! I've never seen writing this poor on the screen! I wish I could get the time back I was waiting for the story to come together and make sense but it never did. Skip this one!

I wasn't going to review, but then I saw all these people raving about it and realized....if real people don't leave honest reviews, movies like this end up with inflated scores that make no sense.

This movie is a hot mess.

It attempts to carry off two parallel plots but it doesn't, really, do justice to either. The "twist" isn't actually a twist so much as a bait and switch kind of thing, where you're led to believe the big mystery is the main plot, and then toward the end you realize it was merely a device to illustrate the main characters deteriorating mental health. And, you also discover, the actual plot is something that's only been hinted at (main characters relationship with his father), which they're going to withhold a key detail on until the end.... I guess as some sort of weak explanation for the ninety minutes of SCREECHING crying baby and shenanigans you've endured.

Maybe it would have benefitted from some flashbacks, IDK. At the end of the day, it didn't do enough to make me care about any of the people involved....and it definitely didn't make me care enough that I wanted to do the work to figure out two thinly stretched together plots.

But, I mean, at least Ward Kerremans is fun to look at.

I stumbled upon the 2023 Dutch mystery thriller titled "Noise" by perusing the Netflix catalogue of movies. And with this movie, from director Steffen Geypens, being a brand new movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to watch it.

The synopsis sounded interesting enough to catch my attention. However, I didn't know what to expect from writers Steffen Geypens, Robin Kerremans and Hasse Steenssens.

However, the storyline was rather slow paced, dull and monotonous. Running at 89 minutes, there was surprisingly little of any worth taking place on the screen. There was nothing scary, nor were there the least bit of thrills or excitement either. And that made for a rather boring movie experience.

Given my limited exposure to the Dutch cinema, then I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. The acting performances in the movie were fairly okay, though the performers had very little material to work with.

Visually then you're not in for anything grant or exciting. But then again, since there was nothing thrilling or scary in the movie, then there really wasn't much use or necessity for special effects.

"Noise" was a swing and a miss of a movie. And believe me when I say that I am never returning to watch this movie a second time, because it was struggle to sit through it the first time. If you enjoy a good mystery thriller, then there are far, far better movies out there to pick from.

My rating of "Noise" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

This movie could have been so many things.

It could have been what secrets the town holds for the son who has come back.

It could have been the secrets of the factory fire.

It could have been about the secrets of the father and his previous wife.

It could have been the slow descent of a marriage.

But no, the director/writer teased several ideas, and just tacked on a nonsensical ending that did not resolve any of the questions. This was a complete waste of time. Throw in the fact that the lead actor graduated from the Kneau Reeves/Kristen Stewart acting class, meaning he had the same constipated expression regardless of the scene or emotion he was supposed to have.