Review Kiddo – Review on FilmTotaal
Director: Zara Dwinger | Script: Zara Dwinger, Nena van Driel Cast: Rosa van Leeuwen (Lu), Frieda Barnhard (Karina), Maksymilian Rudnicki (Grzegorz) Lidia Sadowa (nicht van Karina), ea| Time to play: 91 minutes | Year: 2023
After a series of short films, it was time for Zara Dwinger to make her film debut. and what kind of child it shows Dwinger that she is one of those Dutch filmmakers who dares to be creative and individual. The result is successful.
Lu is frantic when she hears that her mother, who is very, very busy in Hollywood and therefore cannot be permanently in her daughter’s life, announces that she is coming for her. And the next day already.. Doubts arise when Lu’s mother doesn’t show up the next day, but her cold entrance from the bushes a day later makes everything forget. That cool rusty blue car makes up for the initial disappointment.
In that car, Karina informs her daughter that she has been kidnapped. They go to Poland. There lives her mother, Lu’s grandmother, and she has money. Along the way they play who knows how to do a death scene better, they put on wigs and sunglasses and scream at the top of their lungs, because at least that way you don’t go crazy.
They are having a great time this way, but avoiding a crucial and painful topic of conversation. Because Lu knows deep down that her mother is not really famous in Hollywood, and meanwhile, Karina tries very hard to hide who she really is. A warm and loving bond between mother and daughter does not develop.
child It’s full of movie references. Short movie clips are shown in 4:3 format to illustrate what Karina and Lu’s world looks like in their heads. They also depict movie scenes and/or famous movie characters. Classical film music adds to the emotions, along with a touch of overacting here and there. The references have been liked. Of child Dwinger presents itself as a Dutch manufacturer that dares to be creative and individual.
Frieda Barnhard plays the character who wants to be a mother in an annoying and balanced way. She looks at her exactly the way most people who would rather not color outside the lines look at her: with a disapproving look. Barnhard achieves the desired effect that she wants to create with her character. The fact that she calls her daughter Kiddo all the time gets on your nerves, but because a door opens from time to time and you find out that Karina also has her soul damaged, you still feel sympathy for her. .
Rosa van Leeuwen contributes to this distancing effect. She awkwardly plays a girl who doesn’t know how to relate to her eccentric mother. Do you resist her or do you conform with her? That is the question. Van Leeuwen knows how to interpret her doubtful character well.
Whether you find Kiddo especially witty or sad depends mostly on your own interpretations. Lu only wishes for a mother, but yeah, what’s ordinary? finally late child see that you can learn important life lessons from even the most eccentric and absent parents.