THE COLUMNIST

It is not often that we talk about movies at Z, even when they are about superheroes. But the Dutch film "The Columnist", directed by Ivo van Aart and starring the very talented Katja Herbers, is a thought-provoking and engaging film that explores the complexities of freedom of speech and the dark side of internet culture. Not to mention that it is an excellent pre-Halloween watch and it seems to share a filiation with Dark Horse's Lady Killer (Joëlle Jones), a favourite around here, with its themes of womanhood, murder and double life.

Femke Boot (Katja Herbers, who also stars in Evil, an American TV series we will talk about soon in another post), is a famous Dutch columnist who is obsessed with reading the endless abusive messages and death threats posted about her and her work on social media. This obsession consumes her daily life and prevents her from concentrating on the novel she has promised to her publisher.

One day, all her pent-up anger and frustration explodes in a moment of shocking and unexpected violence, after she realizes that one of her neighbours is also one of the online tormentors... This leads to some nice absurdist carnage, as middle-class unassuming mother Femke creeps along a gutter to tip a neighbour off the roof in her inaugural murder... When this brutal and bloody act inspires Femke to write again, she surrenders to her rage and begins to lead a double life as a daytime writer and nighttime murderer.

Katja Herbers delivers a compelling performance as the lead character, capturing the vulnerability and strength of her role with finesse. Her portrayal adds depth to the character, making the audience empathize with her struggles and root for her throughout the film, despite some of her actions being highly questionable at times... And it is the quality of her performance that hurts the most when the film fails her and her character...

For some reason, despite the film (and the actress) going out of their way to show her as an intelligent, resourceful and capable protagonist, Femke leaves a trail of clues that would trigger the inquisitive instincts of even the dumbest cop on the planet: she leaves so many prints, fibers, etc. that you would not even need a CSI unit to find them, let alone a sniffing dog... She also does not bother cleaning her many, many weapons, leaving them covered with blood (and DNA!), before piling them into one single duffle bag that she carelessly hides in her shed, for anybody who has access to find...

Perhaps she unconsciously wants to get caught but that feeling is never truly shown nor demonstrated, by either the film or the performance, quite to the contrary. So the viewer is left wondering why such a smart and capable individual could be so careless, especially considering the extreme nature of her actions and the fact that she clearly does not want to be incriminated? And also, wonders the viewer, how bad can the Amsterdam police department could really be? The film does show us some police officers, and we can see that they take the matter not very seriously, but still... One of the plot points is that the murders are nearly impossible to elucidate... It stretches credibility, to say the least, considering the modus operandi of our protagonist...

This is the biggest let down, considering the actress gave the character her all, gliding effortlessly between the anxious single mother with a burgeoning career and the psychopath determined to end the cyberbullies that poison her life... Thankfully, the direction is solid and the pacing of the movie keeps the viewers engaged, and the cinematography enhances the overall atmosphere, creating a sense of unease that resonates with the film's themes. Bonus point for an amazing utilization of architecture and the choice of locations that add tremendously to the strong visuals of the film.

There are two other sub-plots, the first one features Femke's daughter, Anna (Claire Porro), fired from the school newspaper, who decides to fights a battle for free speech against her controlling school director. And the second follows fellow horror writer Steven Dood (Bram van der Kelen), a sort of Dutch Stephen King, who starts off as an antagonist who savages her during a TV show about social media, only to become her new lover as it turns out his aggressive dark side is only an act (or is it?).

The movie ends with a shocked Femke, covered in the blood of her latest victims, dressed in a crisp white suit, walking in the launch of her latest book, while the crowd gasps at the genius of what they think is pure marketing...

Overall, despite its logical flaws, it is a terribly enjoyable film carried by a majestic performance, which makes the film a worthwhile watch for that alone. Highly recommended!

The Columnist, directed by Ivo van Aart Ivo van Aart. 2019. 86 Minutes. Netherlands. Horror Comedy Crime Thriller.