Is there anything Nicole Kidman can’t do? With her latest turn as the dramatic lead in Holland, it seems the answer is no.
The movie — named after the Dutch toy town on the banks of Lake Michigan where the action unfolds — premiered last night at Austin’s film and arts festival, South by Southwest (SXSW). It is the second full-length feature from director Mimi Cave, whose previous efforts include the 2022 movie, Fresh.
Holland is a real place, although I can’t work out exactly who lives there or if its hypothetical inhabitants have realised it’s effectively Legoland with clogs and more pancakes. Either way, it makes a great setting for Cave’s darkly funny and uncompromising thriller, buoyed by an exquisite set that blurs the line between what’s real and what’s just a game — without giving a safe word.
Kidman plays Nancy Vandergroot, a home economics teacher, wife and mother of one whose domestic existence is turned upside down after her husband’s hidden proclivities come to light. It’s a deliciously weird hybrid, courtesy of screenwriter Andrew Sodroski: part romcom, part horror, the whole of it completely bonkers.
Like Anora, Holland is one of those films that refuses to be placed in a box — and takes a special, sadistic pleasure in putting the audience through it. Last night's crowd — mostly critics and insiders not known for their expressive reactions — squealed, howled, laughed and cried, spitting out their drinks and clenching their butts for the film’s entire two-hour run. After a year of beautiful but painfully slow pictures (The Brutalist, I’m Still Here), Holland is a cheerful reminder of what a movie can be when producers just let the creators have fun.
Among the producers is Kidman herself, adding yet another credit to a list that also includes Expats and Nine Perfect Strangers. It is impossible to appreciate Holland without appreciating the tireless staying power of its brightest star — a Hollywood icon and multi-hyphenate who, at age 57, is booked and busier than ever.
Kidman has faced criticism in recent years for repeating herself; playing rich and beautiful women who are burdened by their past. But this latest character has offered her a way out. Nancy is naive; paranoid; fiercely maternal and protective. She is complicated without being too analytical: a rarity among modern heroines and a further testament to Kidman’s versatility as an actress.
Hers is not the only performance worthy of note. Flanking Kidman are Gael Garcia Bernal (Neruda, Y Tu Mama También) and Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice, Succession). Both are spot on in their respective roles as her colleague and love interest, Dave, and her picture-perfect, quietly unnerving husband, Fred. Even more impressive is the precociously talented Jude Hill, who plays Nancy and Fred’s 13-year-old son, Harry. Following his star-making turn as Buddy in Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical film Belfast, he looks set to become one of the finest actors of his generation.
But the main takeaway from Holland is how much unbridled fun it is. In an era of ambient TV and slow-burning epics, it's great to see we still have filmmakers who dare to entertain — and producers willing to bet on them.
Holland lands in Prime Video on March 27.
