Get Lost! (2018)

Directed by: Mirjam de With | 90 minutes | drama | Actors: Anna Raadsveld, Willem Voogd, Set Sjöstrand, Bea Brocks, Gil Cohen, Hannah van der Westhuysen, Rocco Lapa, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing, Charlie Chan Dagelet, Frits Kokhun Chung, Wimie Wilhelm, Lourens van den Akker, Mickaela Tombrock , Iris Vlutters

Our parents and grandparents actually had it easy in the past. If you were a man, you just went to work full-time so that there was bread on the table. The woman’s task was also completely mapped out: taking care of the children and the household. The stores were well-organized and things were only bought when it was really necessary. Nowadays, people in their twenties suffer from burnouts, partly because of the abundance of options they have. In any supermarket, just look at the huge number of jars of peanut butter you can choose from. We have to do so much; make a career, see everything of the world, have a dynamic social life. Do we want to get married or not, do we want children? And everything still has to be recorded via social media, because of course others also have to stay informed about your fantastic, super successful life. No wonder that there is such a thing as the ‘quarter-life crisis’, in addition to the well-known thirty-something dilemma. If you are between 25 and 35 then you are at a dangerous crossroads in your life. If you go in a certain direction too quickly, you run the risk of missing out on everything. But the same actually applies to people who wait too long to choose their path.

Choice stress, performance pressure and peer pressure; it plays a central role in the Telefilm ‘Get Lost!’ (2018), by director Mirjam de With (‘Op de Dijk’, 2016) and based on a screenplay by Anke Boerstra (‘Scooterdagen’, 2013); together they already made the film ‘Ballast’ in 2012. Fem (Anna Raadsveld) is one of those late twenties who has trouble making choices. She lives in Amsterdam with Yorrick (Willem Voogd) and has a good job in a boring office. She has a promotion coming up for her, and Yorrick proposes to her in a spectacular way with a lavish flash mob. Life seems to be smiling at Fem, but does she really want it all? Fem is the kind of person who – with all eyes on her – simply says ‘yes’ when she means ‘no’, and then later develops cold feet. She loves Yorrick, but she doesn’t want to get married. And that work… she really doesn’t want to keep doing that forever. To sort out the chaos in her head, she decides she has to travel. Alone if necessary. To India. To gain new life inspiration. But barely getting on the plane, the doubt strikes again and so she gets off again. She is reluctant to admit to the home front that she does not dare to travel alone. Fortunately, Mike (Set Sjöstrand) suddenly shows up, a tourist who has stayed in Amsterdam and now runs a hostel and takes other tourists through the capital. In a fit of bewilderment, Fem invents that she is a tourist from Sweden and she hooks up with the youth of the hostel. The web of lies in which she has caught herself is becoming more and more entangled. It’s only a matter of time before her secret comes out…

Fem is a very recognizable character – especially for women; she certainly didn’t fall for her mouth, but is too concerned with what others think and expect of her. She doesn’t want to disappoint anyone, but she sometimes gets herself into trouble or overruns her own wishes and desires. In all her clumsiness and wrong choices, she regularly reminds us of a young Bridget Jones, or closer to home, Soof. Anna Raadsveld gives her a convincing and charming figure. Whether it’s her clumsy timing or her admonishing ‘People live here, you know’ towards unwary tourists; you understand her and hold her in your heart. Although it wasn’t the intention at first, she learns a lot about herself and what she wants in life during her ‘vacation’ in her hometown. What’s really important? Will she fall for the charms of the bohemian Mike or will she see that happiness is closer to home than she thought and will she hug the bourgeois but loving Yorrick again? “Get Lost!” is a sympathetic romantic comedy, with fine humor and with Amsterdam bathed in warm light as the radiant centerpiece, alongside the talented Anna Raadsveld.