Daglicht

This is a very good thriller: good, intricate plot, very well directed with a pace that maintains a certain level of suspense from beginning to end, reminding me a bit of Roman Polanski's style in "Ghost Writer".

The acting is quite good and I disagree with another user review who felt the characters look unconvincing when they are shown in flashbacks as younger versions of themselves; I found that they looked the part and it was not at all distracting me from the very interesting story.

I also enjoyed seeing a psychologist character who is not portrayed as an idiot... In many films psychiatrists and psychologists are either clueless or very annoying; it was nice to see one who does not conform to that movie stereotype, for a change.

I would bet that we will soon see an American remake of this, with some big name Hollywood actors... The psychologist character could easily be played by Ryan Gosling or Colin Farrell. The film would lend itself well to that kind of thing, as there is nothing uniquely "Dutch" about the story in itself. The good directing, however, will be difficult to match: Diederik van Rooijen did a great job.

What worked: It's a well executed thriller, keeping the viewers on the edge of their seat till the last minute of the movie. It's twisted, plot gets interesting and keeps us guessing what the next scenes of the movie it is going to be. It's an interesting and engaging watch. It might deserve a second watch to grasp the complexity of the series of events that's happening in the movie. What did not work: -Plotholes, unanswered questions : many questions in the movie are not answered, some just skipped and some not covered. What we expect ,once so many complexities are set up in the movie , is a satisfying conclusion and answered to if not all but most of the curiosities. The movie gets interesting but the final moments of the movie did not grasp the intensity and the impact that it should have established. Some final moments seemed rushed and some not covered. As a result, makes the movie an enjoyable watch but not a complete one. Final verdict: recommended

Daglicht is a Dutch thriller which for The Netherlands is a genre that rarely is made. It is even rarer to have a title that is made well. Diederik van Rooijen already proved to me in Taped he could handle the genre so I was looking forward of the this mystery we would be introduced to.

The viewer doesn't have to wait long for the mystery to appear and it is one that is compelling that maintains interest from the get go. It is layered enough to have all sorts of outcomes and that for a short while makes you really invested to watch. But I already figured out early on one important part of the riddle. Which (for me) made everything else less surprising and incredibly predictable. In one of the many reveals a character is introduced who is called Ray. This character is autistic in the same fashion as Raymond played by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. In fact the way he moves and behaves is almost an exact copy of that character. For me personally this was a weak moment of film making. Fedja van Huêt is excellent, let there be no mistake about that. It his good acting and professionalism that the role prevents it from becoming a parody. Still it was hard to shake off the connection. This character said something that made me suspect on how the rest of story would unfold since a lot of focus was on this specific part of the mystery. In another reveal we get to see this supposedly clever scene where the son of Iris (Angela Schijf) shows his puzzle solving skills. And yes I would have agreed and been impressed also if not for the fact that I had seen it before in other thrillers were other autistic savants played important roles. What I am saying is that if you like me love the genre and have seen many movies from that genre a lot in the film will get predictable. Mind you, I know that enough people who don't watch as much will be able to be surprised and enjoy the viewing experience that is promised. I only had hope that the director would offer one twist more for thriller fans like me to also make it more interesting for us but sadly he did not. In stead we get a nice,touching and overall warm ending which for me worked well also and was good enough.

If I have to compare I think Taped is the superior thriller because that one maintains the suspense and tension throughout where as Daglicht relies more on the strength of mystery that in the end is not that strong. Still I think it is not a waste of time because the competent acting especially by Fedja van Huêt does give it that edge. The bigger names Derek de Lint and Monique van de Ven however are very much under used and don't really add that much which is a shame but not bothersome. As a big fan of the thriller genre I can only applaud the ambition to make films like these and it looks like it is headed into the right direction.

It's about when love turns evil. An attorney inadvertently finds out she has an autistic brother. Her mother has kept him under wraps for decades. He's serving time for murder. When she visits him she decides he's innocent. After some investigation into the matter she decides to spring him. She talks her boss at the law firm into taking the pro bono case and she's off! It's got some cliches that get a little tired, like everybody telling her to not investigate the matter any further, to what end people? Some of them, yes, they are heavily invested but only about half the people who try to thwart her investigation are. Other than that it's a great story using the device that the inmate can't speak for himself.

Screenwriters in all countries can learn a lesson from this remarkable thriller. Plot, characters, suspense and an indefinable quality, humanity.

Watching this film not only kept me guessing, even though you have a vague idea of where it is going, in a way that keeps you on edge until the very end. Sure, some of the "thriller" aspects are not up to the budgets of the best of Hollywood, but they work to the extent needed here.

The actors are top notch (though I doubt there are may hunks like Bo as hospital orderlies) and Fedja van Huêt, as Ray, in particular, does an excellent turn in his role.

If you want a thriller with something more, see this movie.