Title – Holland (2025)

Director – Mimi Cave (Fresh)

Cast – Nicole Kidman, Gael García Bernal, Matthew Macfadyen

Plot – Living a seemingly idyllic life in the quiet American town of Holland in the state of Michigan, teacher Nancy Vandergroot (Kidman) and her friend Dave Delgado (García Bernal) begin to investigate the possibility that Nancy’s husband Fred (Macfadyen) may be living a double life.

“Some things only look perfect”

Review by Eddie on 04/07/2025

An Amazon Prime original that marks up and coming director Mimi Cave’s first feature film since her breakout Covid hit from 2022 Fresh, you’d be right in heading into Holland with high expectations but sadly this visually arresting and potentially gripping thriller is all bark and no bite.

Based off a Blacklist script that has been bandied about Hollywood since 2013, Holland’s core concept and unique setting suggest that audiences should be in for a rollicking twisting and turning thriller, much like Fresh, but Cave loses her grip on proceedings very early on as Holland gets stuck within itself, going round and round on a merry go round of scenes and situations that undo much of what could have been.

Featuring a well-staffed array of Hollywood veterans that’s led by leading lady Nicole Kidman with able-bodied support from character actor heavyweights Gael García Bernal and Matthew Macfadyen respectively, Holland has the tools at its disposal to be an above average mystery/thriller and there’s a polished production feel to Holland that makes you feel as though you are watching a film of prestige but there’s far too many amateurish angles to Cave’s film that hold it back from becoming a feature you could recommend.

Losing any sense of flow and its grip on its audience in the first half in a very notable way, Holland feels like a film struggling to come to terms with what it wants to be and there’s really not a lot to write home about for much of the films first hour as you await the real heart and soul of Cave’s film to become unearthed and when it finally does it looks like Holland is really going to ramp up and take us on a wild final act stanza but as quickly as the flame begins to really burn, it gets extinguished just as quickly, killing the films chance of overcoming a slow first half with a rip-roaring second half.

It all adds up to a very frustrating viewing experience as you see snippets of the film Holland might have been and there’s some of the same energy and vibrancy on show here that made Cave’s Fresh such as a fun film but these little wins and minor moments can’t overcome the overall feeling that Holland isn’t the sum of its parts and the films noteworthy cast appear as lost as the film they’re in, another addition to Kidman’s recent cold run that has seen the actress struggle to get herself involved in features that are worthy of the time a viewer needs to invest.

Final Say –

There’s a lot of potential for Holland and there are moments where that potential is grasped but it’s only ever fleeting as Mimi Cave’s disappointing new thriller struggles to give you a reason to care.

2 windmill’s out of 5