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Reviews
Hardcore Never Dies (2023)
Unless you were into it back in the 1990s, skip it
I really wanted to like this one, but it fell short for me. I guess those who have liked it a lot is because they first-handedly experienced the hardcore music scene in the 1990s. This was not the case for me and so I really feel disappointed. The whole concept of the movie hinges totally upon the viewers' nostalgia. I could have learned something about the gabber scene but I didn't - though I got the gist of the aesthetics and music (not a fan of it). So, moving past that, the storyline was *too* predictable. This movie's story has been told 100 times! But this one is different in that the ending is pretty lame.
While the acting was good, the characters were mostly one-dimensional and not likable. About 15-20 minutes before the ending I was looking forward to the characters dying so the movie would end - that's how bad it was. Moreover, the characters supposed to be minors looked clearly in their mid-twenties, which added an awkward note.
Overall for non-Dutch audiences, I'd recommend giving this one a pass.
Everything Will be Fine (2021)
Could have been better
The characters were initially consistent and well developed, and, up until the last two chapters, the story was very engaging. Then the characters' internal logic disappeared and with that the story. The endong was absurd. I am not saying it from a moralist perspective but from a realistic one. How come someone who has been harassing women and cheating on his wife has a change of heart after a few hours of attending anti-machoist workshop? I am not an expert in ethical non monogamy but I find it hard to believe that a broken marriage suddenly works out after a threesome that just happened after everyone got drunk and high. Suddenly seems to know knows their place and role in a relationship involving the initally broken couple + the boyfriend. That happens just 'naturally' with little to no communication about past issues or boundaries. Sure.... marriage is dead but fixing a relationship - of whatever nature - would take a lot more than that.
Toscana (2022)
Skip it
Top 3 in NL today. A bunch of cliches, bad acting, terrible story and music. It is an extremely predictable and yet illogical story. I laughed a lot but for the wrong reasons.