Rietland (2025)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 105 minuten
Alternative title: Reedland
Country:
Netherlands
Directed by: Sven Bresser
Stars: Gerrit Knobbe, Loïs Reinders and Lola van Zoggel
IMDb score:
6,6 (451)
Releasedate: 14 May 2025
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Rietland plot
A solitary reed cutter finds the lifeless body of a raped and murdered girl on his reed land. The violent event causes unrest in the closed village community and in the peaceful life of the reed cutter himself. Driven by an indeterminate sense of guilt, he goes in search of answers and tries to track down the evil. While he is looking after his granddaughter, his urge to solve the murder grows stronger. An obsession with which he puts himself and his loved ones in danger.
Actors and actresses
Reviews & comments
hvdriel
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- 397 messages
- 357 votes
An honest, yet clear-cut story about an elderly, silent reed cutter who finds the body of a raped and murdered girl.
The film isn't about the search for the perpetrator, but rather tries to get inside the mind of the reed cutter who, in two beautiful scenes, realizes he himself might be capable of such a gruesome act. After this, the film goes somewhat off the rails. Director Sven Bresser is a bit too eager to show this fact from every angle, to the point of overloading with symbolism. I'll mention just one metaphor to avoid giving too much away: a black stallion impregnates a horse. Well, good and evil are closely related.
A few 'darlings' could have been 'killed', because the film viewer should not be underestimated.
Translated from Dutch · View original
De filosoof
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- 2487 messages
- 1698 votes
The film seems to be about the distrust between two neighboring villages —one more modern than the other—and which centers on a reed cutter who accuses a boy from the other village of rape and murder (because the victim's name resembles Marianne Vaatstra, the film seems to want to symbolize the distrust of immigrants and the accusation against an asylum seeker in Vaatstra's case). That could have made for an interesting film, but nothing is done with the idea, because nothing else really happens: it's one of the most soporific films I've ever seen. There's also a flood theme running through the film, so you could imagine that in a possible escalation or confrontation, the reed cutter might end up drowning or something, so that the film at least wakes you up at the end, but that doesn't happen. Nothing happens. The film does have a harsh, shrill tone that could indicate the 'tension' of the whole situation, but only in the mind of the reed cutter, because I didn't feel it.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mrklm
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- 11629 messages
- 10041 votes
A reed cutter [Gerrit Knobbe] of the old school stumbles upon the body of a sexually abused teenager in a reed field. He dutifully reports it to the police and continues his routine, though he does pay a bit more attention to his grandchildren, and especially to Aleia [Anna Loeffen], who is about the same age as the victim and regularly goes out alone. Full of suggestive, meaningless shots, including one of reeds with a mysterious background noise. Anyone expecting something interesting to happen at any point can wait until the lambs dance on the ice at Pentecost. A profoundly soporific stylistic exercise for the greater glory of the cameramen and sound engineers.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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