Claire lives with her wealthy adopted parents in a luxurious and isolated house in the woods. She discovers a wounded and bleeding boy her age in her family's garden shed. The boy is a young drug courier from Afghanistan; shot and wounded after serving his purpose as human packing material. Claire decides to keep the boy a secret. He slowly recovers under her care; and they fall in love. When the drug dealers return and Claire's family is due to move back to the city; they decide to flee; though Claire finds it difficult to outrun her past as an abandoned child.
Acting
Van den Broeck's silent desperation speaks volumes.
Direction
Van der Oest turns a garden shed into a whole universe.
Director
Paula van der Oest
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This Dutch thriller quietly interrogates European privilege—Claire's glass house literally overlooks the global drug trade she pretends doesn't exist.
Paula van der Oest was one of few female directors working in Dutch thriller cinema in the early 2000s; she later received an Oscar nomination for a different film.
DE
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