The Best of Dorien B.

The reason this movie was made at all has to do with state- subsidized political correctness, gender friendly by a female director, who probably made two films at the same time: her first and last. Hopefully

The writter and director used a very creative way to tell an 'interesting' , funny stroy of the middle age crisis of a woman, no dramatic overeacting required or used to entertain the audience. The river of life just seamlessly. calmly , flow through its bed, when strorm arrived, it stumbles a bit, getting choppy, but soon it always turn back to normal, no matter how torrential it was, life always goes on, sometimes with new challenge and purpose, towards the ocean faraway

Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival 2019, where it was part of the Big Screen Competition (another film got the price, alas). Usually, I don't like relational dramas, but this one proved no problem at all. Sufficiently complex drama and populated with believable characters, not too much out of the ordinary, so portraying normal people yet not resulting in a shallow plot line. And a bit of humor was added as icing on the cake. The mixed entourage of the main couple, with their children as well as her parents contributing proficiently to the plot. All of this succeeded in achieving a rich story with ample developments.

An interesting quote from the Q&A after a question from the audience: why was Dorien a vet?? The director said she was a doctor at first. But a vet has a certain advantage that people coming for her advice, usually project their problems on their animals. In other words, this is a richer situation than "just" a GP or a specialist in a hospital. And it offers an opportunity for interesting developments (as happened here a few times). My personal translation of this statement is that a vet has to deal with two "patients", the owner as well as the sick animal, each bringing in their own very different attitudes and problems.

All in all, despite my reluctance to watch relational drama's, I enjoyed this one without problems. Unexpected developments worked as icing on the cake, but not too far-fetched to become surreal. People like the ones appearing in this movie, may work next to you or live next door.

This is one of the best Belgian movies I've seen in a very long time!

Why? First and foremost, Kim Snauwaert delivers a great performance. She plays the role of Dorien, a young mother going through a difficult phase, very believable and spontaneous.

And I really enjoyed the balance of this movie, it's not black or white at all. Don't expect silly, illogical plot points just for the sake of it. This is a movie about life as we know it and that deserves praise!