Holland

Movie Name: Holland
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Mimi Cave
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Matthew McFayden, Gael Garcia Bernal, Jude Hill, Lennon Parham, Rachel Sennott, Jeff Pope, Isaac Krasner, Bill Russell
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"Holland" is a direct to streaming release, courtesy of Amazon. It hails from the directorial vision of Mimi Cave, in her sophomore directorial endeavor, following her well received directorial debut "Fresh" (which premiered on Hulu). The film, which takes place in Holland, Michigan in the the year 2000, follows the story of Nancy, a high school teacher, who's married to Fred and has a 13 year old son by the name of Harry. Nancy suspects Fred has a double life, since he's an optometrist, and yet is always going on trips for conferences and so on. Nancy wants to find out more and ropes in the assistance of Dave, a fellow teacher who has harbored a crush on her since coming to the school. Nancy and Dave develop romantic notions towards each other, which they almost materialize, but something always presents itself which prevents them from consuming their budding affair. Nancy in the meantime realizes that the train model Fred has been building in their home, in reality may represent more than just the idyllic surroundings of where they live. While Dave initially has some qualms about following Fred, Nancy eventually convinces him, which results in Dave following Fred to a lake home, where he discovers that Fred definitely not only has another life, but one that isn't very cookie-cutter. 

This film had a long journey to the screen, since it initially was a project backed and assigned to Naomi Watts and Bryan Cranston, only to eventually find itself under the good fortune of Nicole Kidman, who is also a producer on this feature. One of the biggest issues with this film is the fact that it can't figure out its tone, and can never decide on what it wants to be. On one hand it wrestles with its David Lynch influences, particularly the ones from "Blue Velvet", and on the other hand, it also struggles with the traces of Sam Mendes/Alan Ball's "American Beauty". It's a bit all over the place, and the director can't figure out if it wants the feature to be a dark comedy, or a satire, or a bloody observation on the ennui of living in the middle of nowhere, or a mix of it all. It just can't find its point of view, and even in its blandness it doesn't have the boldness of going all the way in on it: it lacks belief to make the storytelling anything memorable. It doesn't even hold a flame to Noah Hawley's "Fargo" tv series, of which it seems to be trying to borrow some aspects from. Most of the characters don't have much of anything to them, both lead and supporting characters. Nicole Kidman who is typically a stupendous performer feels both wasted and lost in this feature, with her Nancy character lacking something that makes her discernibly authentic (is she fed up with her relationship, is it the infidelity she suspects of that sparks something in her, or the fact that she has interest in another man). Matthew McFayden and Gael Garcia Bernal, are both equally underserved in roles that are rather monotonous and lack any type of momentum. Sadly the film that is so intent on building up the quirkiness of Holland itself, doesn't know how to capture that spirit, unlike what Ethan and Joel Coen did for "Fargo" for instance. There really isn't much to appreciate about this film, that is sadly a waste of time and talent for everyone involved (the only reason I'm giving it a 2, is due to the acting troupe assembled). Avoid.