Nicole Kidman stars in Holland, a film about a woman's life where not everything is as it seems and where uncovering a secret could prove deadly.
Holland Movie Review
If I had a nickel for every time Nicole Kidman's character wasn't satisfied in her marriage and hooked up with someone else I would have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice (especially so close together). At least in Holland, her love interest isn't miscast and the attraction is believable. Director Mimi Cave is adept at telling stories where things just don't quite add up. Her debut film, Fresh, saw Sebastian Stan have a meet-cute in the grocery store which led to a cannibalistic horror story for the young woman. In her sophomore feature, Cave presents us with an idyllic town in Michigan called Holland where things are just too perfect to be real.
Holland is one part suburban melodrama, one part suspenseful mystery with a sordid affair thrown in for flavor. It starts out fairly slowly and although something is off, it takes its time to tell you exactly what is going on. Once the sleuthing begins, things begin to pick up, drawing you into the secrets. Then by the third act everything is going at a breakneck speed to make it to the finish line. The horror makes for an interesting juxtaposition with the perfection and placidness of the town. Despite a sluggish start and rushed finale, Holland has some intriguing ways to draw you in from clever camerawork to the performances by the lead cast.
Nancy Vandergroot (Kidman) leads a perfect life in Holland, Michigan. She teaches home economics (“life management”) to the young female students, dutifully takes care of her own home, and acts as a loving wife and mother. From the beginning things feel off, not just with the town but Nancy herself. She is somewhat lovingly chastised by her husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) as being forgetful or eccentric. When Nancy loses an earring and fires the babysitter her paranoia begins to manifest, though the reason is unclear. This leads her to noticing something strange about Fred's behavior. Determined to prove he is cheating on her, she recruits fellow teacher (and love interest) Dave Delgado (Gael García Bernal) to help her get to the bottom of it all. But they are in over their heads when the truth is finally revealed.
One of the immediate things you notice about this film is the setting. Something is off about Holland. Its technicolor hues and plastic looking fields of tulips add to that unease. This place looks like a group of people took over an abandoned theme park town and made homes out of it. As Nancy interacts with other townspeople or students you realize, this is the kind of place where you simply learn to exist within carefully constructed views of the world. Holland seemingly exists solely outside of reality and time (although the actual time frame of the story is the early 2000s). It's a dreamy place to live for Nancy, that is until Cave deftly pulls the blinders off to reveal just how demented things really are.
Cave's tight direction along with cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelsk's eye, and production designer Jc Molina's intricate set pieces elevate the notion that nothing is as it seems. Everything appears to be sickly sweet, claustrophobic and suffocating. The dream sequences further make you feel unsettled as Nancy fights her way through a flooded model of the town. And that is by far what I enjoyed most about this film– the camerawork that at times makes Nancy (and the audience) feel stuck inside Fred's model. That hazy surreal quality of the film, from the cinematography to the sets makes you constantly question what is real and what is fake.
Kidman is the undoubtedly the heart of Holland, throwing herself completely into the role, funky accent and all. She is a Stepford Wife until she allows herself to feel something. You can see the shifting emotions in Kidman's eyes as Nancy realizes that she isn't truly living, more like slowly and sweetly suffocating to death. Her best moments however are with Bernal as the two go from co-workers to lovers all while investigating Fred. Dave is a delightful distraction for Nancy, he's exciting, new, and most importantly a supportive partner. Nancy meanwhile is sweet and kind to Dave, something he clearly is not used to. I wish more time had been spent on these two both separately, as their mysterious pasts were hinted at never to be spoken of again, and together.
Verdict
Ultimately, Holland takes a little too long to get started but is able to hold your attention thanks to the surreal world it takes place within. When the script by Andrew Sodroski lacks a punch, you're almost too busy investigating the background to notice. There is an ugliness lingering just underneath the pretty facades, one that I wish Holland spent more time exploring. Because it's not just about Fred's double life but the other people of this town and the hatred they harbor in their hearts. Still, thanks to strong performances from Kidman and Bernal (with Macfadyen getting one standout oh sh*t moment) and Cave's creative eye, Holland manages to be worth a watch.
Holland is now available on Prime Video. It is rated R for some bloody violence, language and brief sexuality with a runtime of 108 minutes.
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