Holland

Do we need to see Nicole Kidman even in her future late 70s in every movie? She's a fantastic actress, but not for every role. After her (unsuccessful) face lifting whatever, in fact face statufying procedure, she just cannot exteriorize every needed facial expressions in any required (active) role. So the script in 'Holland' was not the only faulty stuff here, the lead actor and actress, the husband and wife were with that little silly worm of a kid that needed a baseball bat hit straight to his face.

'Holland' needed someone like Kevin Spacey as the husband and a rebooted Rose Mcgowan as the wife.

Dave Delgado was tragically good as that lame thing and then and only then, the whole movie mumbo screenplay with that tragi-dark-comedy stuff would have worked.

Although, I agree that the ending is not even an ending, it's like a fairy tale princess drowning ending, but whatever and who cares with the things that I've explained earlier.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 5
• Production value/impact: 6.5
• Development: 6.5
• Realism: 4.5
• Entertainment: 4.5
• Acting: 6
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 6.5
• VFX: 7
• Music/score/sound: 6.5
• Depth: 5
• Logic: 2
• Flow: 4.5
• Psychology/mystery/drama/thriller: 5.5
• Ending: 3.

I was drawn to Holland because I liked Mimi Cave's work on Fresh quite a lot, so I figured, why not give this one a shot? Right from the start, though, I felt like I was watching a beautiful facade that slowly began to crumble. The movie sets up this idyllic suburban world that promises dark secrets lurking underneath, but it doesn't really deliver on that promise.

The screenplay is all over the place, disjointed, and full of abrupt plot turns that feel unearned. One minute you're settling into the slow burn of suburban perfection, and the next, bam, a twist that never had time to build up any real suspense. The tonal shifts between dark humor and suspense are jarring, and frankly, neither element is strong enough on its own to carry the movie. It's clear that the characters were meant to mirror the film's theme of artifice and hidden darkness, but aside from Nicole Kidman's Nancy, they're pretty underwritten. Kidman tries her best to hold everything together, and she does give a standout performance, yet her character doesn't have enough depth or substance to fully shine in a script that never really finds its footing.

There are some interesting ideas at play, like the notion of suburban perfection hiding a sinister underside. The use of the tulip imagery and all the Dutch-themed decor is visually stunning and adds to the unsettling beauty of the film. However, all that potential is let down by too many narrative gaps and twists that feel contrived. The theme of artifice, while promising, is never deeply explored, and it remains a surface-level idea. The pacing is another issue. The movie drags in some parts and then rushes through key moments in others, so it never really builds any proper tension.

Overall, its visual style and production design are definitely its strongest points, which capture an unsettling, almost beautiful atmosphere. But unfortunately, that style is bogged down by a poor script and uneven storytelling. Holland is a film with some bright flashes that, sadly, never come together as a cohesive whole.

I was very excited to see this movie as I am a fan of Nicole Kidman and Garcia and thought the premise sounded very interesting.

The first and second act is rather slow to build up for a rather strange and bizarre third act that unfortunately fails to deliver on its shock twist.

The sad part is this film easily could've been a classic on the level of a Cohen Brothers or David Lynch, but instead it ends with some silly premises that are so far-fetched and a bloody ending that has so many plot holes, you scratch your head almost laughing.

Kudos to Nicole Kidman for taking a chance on this film as always she's trying something different and unique and carries the film with Garcia whose role is rather 2 dimensional but this film had no chance even with a great Director as this horrible script ends up being more like a b movie.

5 stars for actors/ director.

During the first hour everything was normal, but then the story picked up and I was hooked. Exceptional performance by Matthew Macfadyen especially. Love everything he does. An incredible actor.

Nicole was fantastic. I throughly enjoyed the movie.

Went in with low expectation, came out smiling.

I really enjoyed not knowing where the story was taking me. Very light and comedic tones for most of the film and then it takes a sharp turn with horror elements. Needless to say, I had a fun time with this.

One of those films where by the twist at the end, and thereby the conclusion, I said to myself, "Is that really it?"

When - 1:35 PM Where - Amazon Prime With Who - Myself

First Thoughts - I'll be honest, I've gone back and forth on whether or not to review this movie. This is because I actually worked on it as a Production Assistant for 17 days of filming. Right off the bat, I want to make it clear that my rating and issues with the overall movie has nothing to do with the amount of effort the entire cast and crew put into it. We worked our tails off to make this film happen, and I'm just happy that it's finally out.

That being said, frankly, this isn't a good movie at all. Even during production it was hard to nail down exactly what the story was and what even the point of it was. Now having seen the finished product, it's clear that the higher ups weren't sure either. This film didn't know what it wanted to be, bouncing between the psychological thriller, drama, erotic thriller like a pinball. The actors, all of whom are talented, did the best they could with what they were given. It's clear though that the script needed a few more passes before being pushed into production. A lot of it came across as over explaining and stunted, it didn't really flow naturally.

The cinematography was solid, Pawel Pogorzelski showcasing his talented eye as always. But the editing felt very off with abrasive cuts and odd choices of shots used that felt as though they were trying too hard to be unique.

Another thing story-wise that frustrated me were choices made by the characters, particularly those made by Nancy Vandergroot. The decisions she makes as the main protagonist are not warranted or justified at all. Sure they pay off in the very end, but they make zero sense when she makes the actual choice. This leaves her feeling erratic and paranoid, making it really difficult to root for her character.

Overall, while I'm proud of the work the entire crew and I did here, that hard work simply didn't come across in the final product.

Full Review to follow.