Godforsaken! (2003)

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The acting in this movie is really good.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

To start off; i liked this film, particularly Tygo Gernandt's acting was plainly brilliant. The sorry thing about dutch films is, that mainly stage actors appear in dutch productions. Obviosously dutch directors find it very difficult to direct acclaimed theater actors, let alone telling them that stage acting(e.g. articulation and exaggerated physical expression) is a big no-no film acting. The southern dutch accent is very well performed by Tygo en Egbert, however most of the other actors 'slip back' to a pathetic attempt, particularly the ( here I go again) stage actors. The directing and the editing of this movie were very undutch and therefor very strong, the acting however........ three great actors can never compensate 10 mediocre to sloppy actors. Conclusion: A more dedicated and disciplined director combined with a less conservative casting director could have lifted this flick to a higher level and in the process would have put dutch film-making on the map.

Finally, since a long time, a convincingly Dutch product is made. What startled me the most was the good acting of Weeber and Gernandt. They convinced me with their characters. Especially Gernandt, who has a difficult role, gives good accent to the emotions he has to express.What plays an essential role in this film is the dull ambience that governs the environment in which the story is set. I think we should give credit to the director who correctly emphasized how this ambience is essential to the main characters and the plot. With that, he gave this film the decisional key that makes it as a whole.Because it is made with a relatively small budget, and it finally breached through the half-tone level of dutch cinema, I gave it a 9 out of 10.

Despite the fact that I'm Dutch myself, I don't enjoy Dutch movies very often. Maybe it's because I grew up with (mostly) American movies or it's just because the Dutch movies aren't so good. Especially the acting is often far below the level of American or other foreign movies. It's just not convincing.This movie however displays a high level of acting. Especially the part played by Tygo Gernandt (Maikel Verheije) is very good. You can literally see the adrenaline in his eyes from time to time.The story is about a boy (Stan) who's having a boring life and is looking for some action. By coincidence he meets Maikel. Everybody knows he's a criminal but Stan sees an adventure ahead of him. And so they become 'partners in crime'. Maikel has another partner (Sef) with who Stan doesn't go along quite well.During a robbery they 'accidentally' kill someone and when the local mafia gets to know it. They offer them a job to kill several people for them. As they get more jobs they loose their grip on reality.The story of the movie is good but what makes the movie better than other Dutch movies is the acting. So there's still hope for the future of the Dutch movies. (8/10)

The story about the 'bende van Venlo' has been the basis for this film. Which has resulted in one of the best dutch films ever. Featuring a good cast with very strong acting. Especially from tygo. The unknown (to me) E.J. Weeber makes a very good impression. This film really is going to make me watch more dutch releases. I'm anxious to see more from P. Kuijpers.