Straf (2025)

I saw this as a preview at Lowlands. What a surprise! It's been a long time since I laughed so much at a movie.

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A good film about a teacher who's constantly being taken advantage of by both his colleagues and his students. Plenty of interesting developments and plenty of laughs (some nice, crude humor here and there). Several well-constructed scenes, and Rutger de Bekker is perfectly cast.

Translated from Dutch · View original

The funniest joke is when you're watching Lingo (we only hear it, we don't see it) and you hear smoking woman. The expert simply has the footage.

The day before this film, I saw Tron: Ares, and the differences couldn't be more striking. Tron was a plus in the cinema, I think this Straf is also perfectly fine to watch at home, and the cinema offers little real added value. Visually unremarkable, though the quaint setting with its typical 70s neighborhoods and terraced houses is fun to see. The casting was also really well done, by the way.

Sometimes quite crude, with plenty of swearing and cursing, and the use of "mongoloid" (a term we know from Mastermovies by one of the two directors). Some decent jokes, though the joke density is a bit low, and overall, the film runs about fifteen minutes too long. The final act, in particular, starts to drag. But for a carefree hour and a half, from the couch or otherwise, this is perfectly fine. Provided you can handle this kind of humor. 3.5 stars.

Translated from Dutch · View original