Daglicht

Funny how someone described it as a "TV like" movie (what ever that means). Many European, actually all non-American, films do not rely strongly on aimless action sequences and special effects and zoom in on the story. Therefore they keep a steady pace, convincing real life characters and the story is mainly told through image appose to spoon fed by dialogue. They're less "loud" This story is well thought through, original with twisting plots. Superb acting by the international known cast (yes people there was a time when Monique and Derek were killin' it out there) and throat grabbing drama and suspense. See it if you can.

This is a TV-level or TV-like "drama in family" movie about Iris Boelens, a young single mother and lawyer, contending with an autistic child and the discovery that she has a brother who is locked up for a double murder --and who has autism also. Not much action (violence) or action related suspense in this movie. It is mainly psychological drama and suspense (thriller, I guess) that originates from this lawyer's dogged search for the truth about her brother and family and the people who want to stop her when she decides to investigate his crime and get him new representation.

Whether or not you warm to this movie depends on whether or not you care about the central character in it and/or the subject matter. Therefore, whether or not you are sympathetic to Iris Boelens and the problems and mystery of her family. Iris is a busy woman, juggling a demanding job and problem child who has been suspended from school. Her mother has a cool, no-nonsense facade but one has a sense that deep down she perhaps cares. She is taciturn; doesn't want to give Iris any info about her newly discovered brother. This leaves Iris no choice but to turn to her trusty computer and perhaps the Dutch version of Google. The movie grows on you if you're patient and has an interesting ending that actually made me say "Sh!t, I didn't see that coming". Love, Boloxxxi.

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

I must admit: Being north of 60, I've become jaded to the plethora of mediocre films that had been released over the past 20 or 30 years. They all seem to be cheap rehashes of prior films, created to make a quick buck from the continuously endless parade of streaming sites that be.

Daglicht (Daylight) took me by surprise because I wasn't expecting anything other than a run-of-the-mill Nordic noir. Perhaps I'm biased because I'm also autistic like a few of the characters in Daylight, but special mention should be made that the filmmakers did portray autism fairly accurately.

Also, I was surprised by the strong relation this film had to Rain Man. You can almost call this a Danish Rain Man given its similarities.

Like a lot of Scandinavian noir, the atmosphere was perfect as well as the pacing, music and direction. Was some of the acting a bit over the top? Maybe. Hollywood is also guilty of making sure you can tell someone is autistic from a mile away. Nevertheless, Daylight is worth the two hours spent watching it and I look forward to more films from the creators.

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.