I enjoyed … I don’t know if ‘enjoyed’ is the right word. I got through this with a lot of uneasiness, anxiety & secondhand embarrassment.
I went into this fairly blind; I saw some people I follow on here talk highly of it & that was enough for me. I really didn’t know what to expect. It’s labelled as a horror but not as you know it. It’s an uncomfortable film for sure.
A Danish couple & their daughter are invited to a Dutch couple & their son’s home for a little holiday. The Danish couple only met the other couple for a few days on a previous holiday but for whatever reason, they accept the invite to these, essentially, stranger’s home. Things don’t appear right from the get go. The Danish couple leg it out of there but their daughter can’t find her toy rabbit so they have to go back to find it, but the Dutch couple convince them to stay. Things get worse from then onwards.
Honestly, it’s an unrealistic movie. I would have left & not gone back. Even if I had to go back they wouldn’t have convinced me to stay. The Danish couple’s decisions are questionable & unbelievably stupid from the start & throughout the movie. Maybe this film is a greater narrative on how we are too polite to turn people down & that can lead us into super uncomfortable situations. We’re taught manners & therefore don’t want to be impolite to people who appear to be nice to us, even if they have sinister intentions. It kind of fits into The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo quote “It’s hard to believe that the fear of offending can be stronger than the fear of pain.” If they had just gone with their gut instinct they would have been fine but out of politeness they stayed. I’m maybe looking too deeply into this, sure, but it feels relevant to the film.
It was well acted (Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt & Karina Smulders were all fantastic), great cinematography, eerie score & isolating setting. I was left with a lot of questions once it finished, but overall it was a great experience. The plot is far out but if you suspend your belief, it’s enjoyable.
But just know this, that couldn’t be me. I avoid people no matter what, you ain’t inviting me to your house for a holiday. Not no way, not no how.
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