Movie Review - Voor de Meisjes

Director: Mike van Diem
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 103 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Thekla Reuten, Fedje van Huet, Noortje Herlaar, Valentijn Dhaenens
 
Description: A serene getaway in the Austrian Alps descends into chaos when the once-solid between two longtime couples starts to fracture.
 
Review: The Dutch film “Voor de Meisjes” is a dark drama that takes a moral dilemma to the extreme.
The story follows two couples who have been friends for years and share a vacation home in the Austrian Alps. When their teenage daughters are involved in a serious accident, the atmosphere changes immediately. The friendship quickly crumbles, giving way to a ruthless battle in which the parents ask themselves: how far would you go to save your own child at the expense of another?

The actors deliver impressive work, especially Thekla Reuten and Noortje Herlaar. Director Mike van Diem creates a vicious atmosphere that force the viewers to think about their own moral boundaries.

The characters are highly unlikeable and this movie is definitely not an ad for being in a relationship or having kids. The plot was a bit predictable here and there, but overall it was a very strong, solid film.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Review - The Takeover

Director: Annemarie van de Mond
Genre: Thriller/ Crime
Runtime: 87 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Holly Mae Brood, Geza Weisz, Frank Lammers, Walid Benmbarek, Noortje Herlaar
 
Description: Framed for murder after uncovering a privacy scandal, an ethical hacker (Holly Mae Brood) must evade the police while trying to track down the criminals blackmailing her.

Review: We meet Mel, an ethical hacker, good at her job and loving it. When one night someone breaks into her house, clearly looking for her, she flees, not knowing why they want her. She is framed for murder and with that wanted by the cops. Mel doesn’t rest until she finds who is behind it all and why she is the target. It sounds very intriguing, but the film is a soulless affair.

It's fun to see a recognizable décor, since it’s set in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (I’m Dutch), but that’s probably the only realistic thing about this film. The story and the characters are totally implausible. I don’t know if it’s because of the self-driving bus that eventually gets out of control, the many plot holes in the script or the lifeless characters.

With all that, the movie is uninspired. Almost everything about it is cliché. The hacking takes place in dimly lit rooms with wires everywhere. It has over-the-top Bond-like villains. And most of all, it’s very predictable.

I think, if you don’t expect anything and you don’t mind predictable thrillers, you might enjoy it. But “The Takeover” is highly forgettable and not original whatsoever.

Rating: 2/ 5