A lie travels faster than truth, and this Belgian thriller proves it burns everything.
Teacher Rob Dekoster is a good man, albeit a bit too frivolous and liberal with funds the local arts center's interim director. His wife Nelle, who sometimes abuses drugs, spoils his ingrate teenage stepdaughter Sandy, who is kind only to her sweet, mentally handicapped brother, Jimmy Vandevyver. After a class on sexual abuse from feminist teacher Lydia De Beule, Sandy pretends Rob abused her. Lydia, Rob's ex, eagerly helps her fabricate 'proof', which a female police commissioner eagerly believes. A frustrated judge (and father) shamelessly ignores the legal benefit of the doubt, even tricks Rob while in jail. Nelle discovers more then one sick truth.
Acting
Gene Bervoets breaks your heart as the trapped everyman.
Writing
Ex-lovers weaponizing ideology against each other—savage.
Director
Ivan Boeckmans
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This 2005 Belgian film predates #MeToo by over a decade, making its critique of uncritical belief systems eerily prescient and controversial.
The directors deliberately cast comedic actors in dramatic roles to subvert audience comfort—Gene Bervoets was known for light fare before this.
US
