First Kiss (2018)

Directed by: Roy Poortmans | 88 minutes | romance, comedy | Actors: Vajèn van den Bosch, Buddy Vedder, Leontine Borsato, Caroline de Bruijn, Marije Zuurveld, Jeroen van Holland, Ron Brandsteder, Stijn Fransen, Andy van Veen, Bastiaan Ragas, Gina Singels, Bauke van Boheemen, EliZe, Loek van den Wijngaard , Jade van Weel, Noor de Groot, Jetty Mathurin

In 2019, it is the way to get (pre)teens to the cinema: open a can of YouTube stars and give them a role in your film. It doesn’t matter if they can act; as long as they have enough young followers on social media, you as a filmmaker are assured of the interest of this target group. An additional advantage is that the vloggers and influencers can also immediately take on the role of the PR department and the film sells itself, as it were. Films such as ‘Misfit’ (2017), ‘Dylan Haegens’ film’ (2018) and ‘Elvy’s World: So Ibiza’ (also 2018) prove that this actually works, which in no time earned the Golden Film predicate. dragged and beckoned young people to the cinemas for weeks. A second part of ‘Misfit’, about YouTube star Djamila, which attracted more than 250,000 visitors, will be published later this year. Everything indicates that this is a trend that will continue in the coming years.

One of the films that wants to piggyback on the popularity of YouTube stars is ‘First Kiss’ (2018), conceived and directed by Roy Poortmans. He previously made ‘Sinterklaas & Diego: The secret of the ring’ (2014) and ‘De Familie Slim’ (2017) and is therefore familiar with a youthful target group. The story lines are not too complicated. The film focuses on Roos (musical star Vajèn van den Bosch), a dreamy girl of about eighteen whose world revolves around social media. She vlogs and has her own online talk show called ‘Give Roos a Kiss’ where she discusses topics like falling in love and guys. She herself has a very clear idea of ​​what her first kiss should be like, because she saved herself for that one special boy. Moreover, she becomes more and more curious about who her father actually is. All she knows is that he met her mother on the party island of Ibiza, but she doesn’t know where he has gone after all these years.

Her mother Susan (Leontine Borsato) now runs the small cosmetics company First Kiss, which is extremely popular, especially among the youth, thanks to its collaboration with countless influencers. However, First Kiss has competition from Couleur de Paris, a much larger and above all less modern and hip (because: no collaboration with YouTube stars) business empire led by Susan’s ruthless sister Jeanette (Caroline de Bruijn) and her daughter Germaine (Stijn Franssen). ). They have their sights set on a takeover of First Kiss, but Susan doesn’t worry about it. And so photographer Yannick (Buddy Vedder) is brought in to sabotage the launch of First Kiss’s new lipstick. Yannick can use the money that is offered to him for this, because his critically ill father has to undergo surgery abroad and he does not have the means to pay for it himself. But you guessed it; as soon as he gets to know Roos better, something blossoms between the two and Yannick is suddenly not so sure whether he still wants to thwart First Kiss.

The wafer-thin story, the caricatural characters and the predominant presence of soap stars give the feeling that we are watching an extra long broadcast of GTST. In addition, YouTube stars such as Marije Zuurveld, Jeroen van Holland, Queen of Jetlags, Jessie Maya, Girlys Blog, Manou Jue Cardoso and Koen Kardashian act moderately at best. Vajèn van den Bosch is the positive exception to the whole; she’s actually too good for a no-brainer like this and deserves a role in a film that better shows what she’s got. The fact that Ron Brandsteder makes fun of himself by appearing as ‘Dokter Bernhard’ for the umpteenth time, only makes the older viewer and viewer slightly chuckle. We can forgive the makers of ‘First Kiss’ for something so lame, but the way the hanging life of Yannick’s father is used by the evil mother and daughter to indulge their lust for power and revenge is really a bridge to be found. far. Even for the fans of the so prominent social media stars.