20s Movie Review - Zwanger & Co

Director: Johan Nijenhuis
Genre: Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Lieke van Lexmond, Waldemar Torenstra, Thom Hoffman, Manuel Broekman, Carolina Dijkhuizen, Maaike Martens, Bo Maerten, Matteo van der Greijn

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 9: A MOVIE IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE
 
Description: Merel (Lieke van Lexmond), a singel midwife, is done with men, but her biological clock is ticking inexorably. And yes, she gets pregnant. However, the whole family seems pregnant. Her 60-plus father Piet (Thom Hoffman) has just become a father again with his younger partner and her 23-year-old nieve Eva (Bo Maerten) is also expecting. Merel’s sister Annet (Maaike Martens), who suffers from empty nest syndrome, has a husband (Matteo van der Greijn) who only wants to travel because he thinks he is too young to become a grandfather.

Review: “Zwanger & Co” is a new romantic comedy directed by Johan Nijenhuis. We follow Merel, a single midwife, who wants nothing more then to become a mother. She eventually becomes pregnant through a sperm donor. In the meantime, babies are everywhere in her family and a new man enters her life.

Because the many characters share similar desires and experience almost similar events, but with slight variations, this film comes across as repetitive and dull. The various storyline off the different family members also overshadow each other more than they really work together, which makes it a very messy film.

With that, the movie gives of the wrong messages. They try to be very open-minded, but in short it tells us that a woman without a child is not a woman. That being a mother, is the only reason for a woman to be on this earth. And whenever you do choose a career, but also have a child, the character is portrayed as a selfish, not-caring mother. Merel, who makes the brave decision to become pregnant through a donor, feels like an good, powerful storyline. But eventually she, and the people around her, that every kid needs a father.

Especially as a woman who has no intention of becoming a mother, and with a best friends who is the best mother to her two daughters from a donor, this movie really doesn’t give off the right messages.
This movie sucks. It’s not credible, over-sentimental, sends of the wrong messages and offers nothing good. One of the worst movies I have ever seen.

Rating: 0,5/ 5