My Very Weird Week with Tess (2019)

Directed by: Steven Wouterlood | 82 minutes | family | Actors: Sonny Coops van Utteren, Josephine Arendsen, Tjebbo Gerritsma, Julian Ras, Johannes Kinast, Terence Schreurs, Jennifer Hoffman, Suzan Boogaerdt, Hans Dagelet, Guido Pollemans

Anna Woltz is currently one of the best children’s book authors in the Netherlands. She writes psychologically profound stories about young people with just the right balance of heaviness and light-heartedness. In addition, she has a beautiful writing style, so that her books are also more than worthwhile for adults. ‘My Very Weird Week with Tess’ is the first of her books to make its way to the silver screen (‘Plaster’ was made into a TV series, and a movie version was made for Cinekid, but it is not showing regularly ). With Steven Wouterlood on the director’s chair, who previously made an impression with the short films ‘Koningsdag’ and ‘Everything is allowed’, expectations are high.

‘My very strange week with Tess’ starts with an accident: Jorre, the three-year older brother of protagonist Sam, breaks his leg by falling into a pit that Sam has dug on the beach. Sam has just been on Terschelling for one day with his parents, they have rented a house there. Not a nice start to the holiday. At the local doctor Sam soon feels too much and his father sends him outside. Then he meets Tess, who is working on a laptop in her backyard. Tess immediately asks him all kinds of questions. Or can he dance salsa for example? When Sam’s father has to go to the mainland with Jorre because Jorre’s leg has to be plastered, Sam indicates that he prefers to stay with Tess. It clicks immediately between the two children.

Despite the bond that Sam and Tess build, there are also frequent clashes. Both children are struggling with a secret that they do not want to reveal right away. For example, Sam has recently started thinking about death, and he is convinced that – because he is the youngest in the family – he will later be left alone. To protect himself against this, he has decided that he should follow solitude training. Tess’ secret is a little more quirky. However, the girl is resourceful enough – and she herself will be the first to call it out – to solve her problem. But maybe her idea is a bit too creative and she hasn’t thought about all the consequences yet…

‘My very strange week with Tess’ keeps the viewer glued to the screen for the entire playing time. It is compelling and the acting is more than credible, with the two young protagonists, Sonny Coops van Utteren and Josephine Arendsen, standing out very positively. But also Tjebbo Gerritsma as Sam’s father has a nice role. You wish every child such a father! Like the book, the film has the right combination of heavy themes such as death and identity and humor. The lessons contained in ‘My Very Weird Week with Tess’ are still recommended even for some adults: collecting beautiful memories with people you love is many times more valuable than having material things. In addition, the film emphasizes that you should cherish your idiosyncrasy. And thanks to the beautiful camera work, this film is also an ode to Terschelling. “My Very Weird Week with Tess” might just be the perfect summer vacation movie.