THE STORY – In this wildly unpredictable thriller, Nicole Kidman is the meticulous Nancy Vandergroot, a teacher and homemaker whose picture-perfect life with her community pillar husband and son in tulip-filled Holland, Michigan, tumbles into a twisted tale. Nancy and her friendly colleague become suspicious of a secret, only to discover nothing in their lives is what it seems.
THE CAST – Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, Jude Hill & Gael García Bernal
THE TEAM – Mimi Cave (Director) & Andrew Sodorski (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 108 Minutes
In 2002, Todd Haynes introduced a technicolor dreamlike existence with Julianne Moore playing a frustrated 1950s housewife in “Far From Heaven.” The film explored themes of identity, infidelity, and suburban decay as Moore’s seemingly perfect life unraveled around her at every step. It’s been more than 20 years since that film debuted, and this week at South by Southwest, a worthy successor has emerged in director Mimi Cave’s audacious “Holland.”
“Holland” stars Nicole Kidman as, yes, a suburban housewife living in Holland, Michigan, a very real and quaint small town that boasts midwest niceness and idyllic scenery. Amongst the many windmills and corner stores are the innocent residents that line the streets for parades while Kidman’s Nancy teaches their kids at the town’s high school. Wife to local optometrist Fred (Matthew MacFadyen) and mom to young Harry (Jude Hill), Nancy lives an early oughts-set life full of Blockbuster video rentals, meatloaf made with ketchup, and talking to friends on the corded phone that lines her kitchen. But Nancy’s world isn’t all butterflies and rainbows as she begins to suspect that Fred might be having an affair. “He goes to a lot of conferences for an optometrist,” she quips to friend and fellow teacher Dave (Gael Garcia Bernal). The two take it upon themselves to investigate this small-town indiscretion as they trail Fred’s whereabouts and search his office for clues. Meanwhile, the two teachers strike up an affair of their own, complicating matters that make their investigation feel more enticing, sexy, and a bit dangerous. However, something lies underneath the surface in Holland, Michigan, and Nancy’s suspicions of Fred’s behavior and actions might reveal something far more sinister. In protecting her son and their family’s reputation, she attempts to maintain an attitude of gratitude for the life she’s built with Fred. Yet, something is amiss, and though her Mayberry-like garden variety town echoes a perfect environment, Nancy isn’t ready for what she might uncover.
Director Mimi Cave’s bold vision and imaginative filmmaking style, much like those she displayed so confidently in her feature film “Fresh,” are elevated in “Holland” to Todd Haynes and Douglas Sirk degrees of riveting melodrama. Andrew Sodroski’s script boasts fascinating twists and turns that lead directly to a third-act reveal that escalates into a suburban nightmare at its finest. Kidman and the entire cast are top-notch, buying into what Cave is selling from start to finish with Kidman especially delivering one of her most detailed-specific performances.
“Holland” is intense in moments when it’s obvious that something will disturb Nancy’s version of the life she’s lived for many years. What starts out as humble beginnings in a small town morphs into something equally passionate and deliberately comic. Much like “Far From Heaven,” this movie rides the line of technicolor tone and is backed by a masterful score that adds to the melodrama of the moment, this time by musician Alex Somers. Cave displays an expert degree of control of the story’s many shifts as it constantly evolves and surprises its audience, crescendoing into a horrifyingly bloody third act.
We’ve seen these sorts of peeks into the underbelly of suburban life in many films before, evidenced by the success of past projects like “American Beauty” and “Far From Heaven.” Here, “Holland” feels original in its execution because Cave leans on nightmare scenarios to weave in and out of life amongst the tulips. Nancy’s dreams give backstory to her gut instincts, which drives the film forward in new and terrifyingly interesting ways, making it stand out amongst the pack of other films cut from the same cloth.
