I was drawn to Holland because I liked Mimi Cave's work on Fresh quite a lot, so I figured, why not give this one a shot? Right from the start, though, I felt like I was watching a beautiful facade that slowly began to crumble. The movie sets up this idyllic suburban world that promises dark secrets lurking underneath, but it doesn't really deliver on that promise.
The screenplay is all over the place, disjointed, and full of abrupt plot turns that feel unearned. One minute you're settling into the slow burn of suburban perfection, and the next, bam, a twist that never had time to build up any real suspense. The tonal shifts between dark humor and suspense are jarring, and frankly, neither element is strong enough on its own to carry the movie. It's clear that the characters were meant to mirror the film's theme of artifice and hidden darkness, but aside from Nicole Kidman's Nancy, they're pretty underwritten. Kidman tries her best to hold everything together, and she does give a standout performance, yet her character doesn't have enough depth or substance to fully shine in a script that never really finds its footing.
There are some interesting ideas at play, like the notion of suburban perfection hiding a sinister underside. The use of the tulip imagery and all the Dutch-themed decor is visually stunning and adds to the unsettling beauty of the film. However, all that potential is let down by too many narrative gaps and twists that feel contrived. The theme of artifice, while promising, is never deeply explored, and it remains a surface-level idea. The pacing is another issue. The movie drags in some parts and then rushes through key moments in others, so it never really builds any proper tension.
Overall, its visual style and production design are definitely its strongest points, which capture an unsettling, almost beautiful atmosphere. But unfortunately, that style is bogged down by a poor script and uneven storytelling. Holland is a film with some bright flashes that, sadly, never come together as a cohesive whole.
