Holland (2025)

In Holland (2025), director Greta Linssen makes a stunning international debut with a hauntingly beautiful psychological drama that unfolds among the windmills, canals, and shadowy tulip fields of the Dutch countryside. Blending slow-burn suspense with aching human drama, the film tells the story of loss, deception, and identity in the heart of a seemingly peaceful village.

The film centers on Eva Van Daalen (played by Alicia Vikander), a botanist who returns to her childhood town in Holland after the mysterious death of her estranged father—an eccentric horticulturist and war historian. But what begins as a simple inheritance process soon becomes a descent into dark family secrets. Eva discovers a hidden greenhouse on the estate containing a species of genetically modified tulips… and a coded journal suggesting her father had uncovered something dangerous about the town’s past.

As Eva digs deeper, she encounters resistance from local officials, particularly the town mayor (Carice van Houten) and a secretive farming syndicate. She’s joined by a war photographer-turned-researcher (Matthias Schoenaerts), whose connection to Eva’s father may not be what it seems. Together, they unravel a decades-old conspiracy involving war crimes, buried gold, and botanical warfare rooted in WWII experiments.

Visually, Holland is nothing short of breathtaking. Cinematographer Lars Dijkstra captures the ethereal light of the Dutch countryside with moody precision. The tulip fields, once symbols of beauty and peace, become metaphors for deception and decay. The score by Ryuichi Sakamoto Jr. adds layers of melancholy that echo the film’s central themes: memory, legacy, and moral ambiguity.

Critically, the film has been compared to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Constant Gardener for its investigative tension and layered female lead. Vikander delivers a controlled, vulnerable, and fiercely intelligent performance that anchors the entire story. The writing, though deliberately paced, rewards patient viewers with a complex payoff that avoids cliché.

Some viewers may find the mid-section too slow, and the historical subplot occasionally overshadows the emotional core. But Linssen’s direction keeps everything grounded, letting atmosphere and character drive the mystery forward.

In a post-credits scene, Eva opens a long-sealed envelope from her father—revealing coordinates to an old wartime bunker beneath the North Sea dikes. A whisper of wind carries a single message scrawled in Dutch: "They thought the flowers were the end. They were just the beginning."

Holland (2025) is a poetic, slow-burning thriller rooted in land, memory, and trauma. It’s a striking debut that proves psychological mysteries don’t need speed to leave a lasting mark.