Starring: Hanna van Vliet, Jouman Fattal, Thom de Vries, Jade Olieberg
Director: Valerie Bisscheroux
Country: Netherlands
Anne (van Vliet) is a young writer living in Amsterdam. Her girlfriend, Sara (Fattal), gets a job in Montreal and they decide that Anne will follow her out there in a few months’ time, but during their time apart they agree to live a polyamorous relationship. Anne meets Lou (de Vries), a confident non-binary photographer with whom she strikes up an affair and makes her question the validity of her relationship.
A story about a personal journey rather than relationship melodrama, this Dutch indie feels like the kind of inert mumblecore that Lena Dunham or Clea DuVall would be proud of. To summarise it as “a hipster twenty-something navigates the trials of life and love in the big city” sounds completely wishy-washy, but that’s exactly what it is. Its characters spend the whole film talking about feelings and then feeling the feelings and then talking about them again. And not much else.
The acting is fine and the cinematography is fine and the dialogue totally OK. But in terms of a satisfying filmic experience, this is about as substantial as a yogurt and some sparkling water. It also makes travel and emigration look like the big bad wolf, which is a pretty sad message too. You might enjoy Anne’s company for ninety minutes, but she’ll be like an acquaintance you make on a plane; fine to pass the time, but you’ll forget their existence by the time you’ve picked up your bags.
UK Release: Out now on Netflix