Friday, March 28, 2025
Holland
There is something wrong in Holland, Michigan. Fred & Nancy Vandergroot are married with a 13-year-old son, Harry. When school teacher Nancy (Nicole Kidman) suspects her husband may be having an affair, she enlists her colleague, David Delgado, to help her gather proof. Fred is an optometrist who has been traveling for work a lot lately. Suspense grows as Nancy & David almost get caught in the act of gathering evidence. But Fred is not the only one hiding secrets here. As the plot plays out, it’s hard to figure out what type of movie this is. In this weird small midwestern town setting, everything Dutch is featured: like windmills, wooden shoes, & tulips. Fred’s hobby is an elaborate scale model train set down in the basement. Are these oddities essential to the story or are they colorful distractions? Is this a drama about spousal cheating? Is it a mystery about digging up clues to uncover the truth? Its quirkiness makes me suspicious of some underlying black comedy humor. All along, the plot feels like it’s toying with the audience & feeding us misinformation. It kept me guessing till near the end when some twists turn up. Maybe too weird for me.
Alien gives it 2 “pup-peroni” stars out of 4.
