Lost & Found (2018)

Directed by: Nicole van Kilsdonk | 90 minutes | drama | Actors: Hannah Hoekstra, Hajo Bruins, Bram Suijker

Nicole van Kilsdonk likes to analyze people in her films. People of different backgrounds, but who all struggle with their identity. Whether they are young or old, poor or rich; the filmmaker makes no distinction in this regard. For her part in the 2018 Telefilms series, Van Kilsdonk set to work with a script by Johan Fretz, the writer and comedian who is a welcome guest in television programs such as ‘Pauw’ and ‘De Wereld Draait Door’ and in 2011 as barely The 26-year-old broke through with his much-discussed novel ‘Fretz 2025’, about a young idealist who is running for the premiership of the Netherlands in 2025. The novel – which originated from a speech Fretz wrote on behalf of his fellow students from the Amsterdam Toneelschool to read during demonstrations against the announced cutbacks in culture – is strongly autobiographical. Autobiographical elements can also be discovered in his screenplay for the Telefilm ‘Lost & Found’ (2018); the main character is a writer who produced a literary bestseller at a young age and is now dreading that long-awaited second novel. ‘Lost & Found’ relies heavily on the dialogues, but they are in good hands with Fretz.

Lucas (Bram Suijker) is a writer in his thirties, who encounters typical ‘thirties dilemmas’. After his spectacularly received debut novel, he struggles with writer’s block. The expectations surrounding his second book are high, but can he live up to them? How does he compete against the huge success of his debut? He already has a weighty title and a heavy subject – something to do with the search for identity during the Second World War – while still looking for inspiration. He hopes to find them in Berlin, a city that breathes history and where he hopes to find answers to his questions. While he expects to live an anonymous life for a few months, when he is only in the German capital for a few days, he runs into his old lover Lena (Hannah Hoekstra). She immediately invites him to dinner at her house, which stirs up all kinds of old feelings in him. However, it turns out that Lena is now married, has a daughter and lives in a residential group. The world she ended up in, that of vegan hipsters, does not match at all the expectations Lucas had of the reunion. Having lost the keys to his Airbnb apartment, Lena offers to take him home. What follows is a long nighttime stroll through Berlin, where the two ex-lovers reminisce about making revealing confessions to each other.

Anyone who sees ‘Lost & Found’ will undoubtedly recognize parallels with films such as Richard Linklater’s ‘Before Sunrise’ (1995) and the work of Woody Allen. There is a lot of talk and the dialogue plays a central role in the whole. The core is a broken relationship that didn’t quite end the way it was meant to be. Was it the intention of either party to end the relationship at all? Lucas and Lena wander through nightly Berlin with no concrete goal, but with a lot to discuss. Berlin is a fascinating city, according to Van Kilsdonk and Fretz, where history and modern times intertwine and where hedonism reigns supreme. And let it be precisely that quest for pleasure and happiness that motivates our main characters. In addition, they struggle with other, recognizable emotions; Lucas is afraid of being rejected and that his second book will not live up to expectations. He thinks that motherhood restricts Lena in her freedom, which of course she does, but doesn’t seem to bother her. Lucas and Lena are polar opposites; he appears a bit neurotic and frustrated and is guided by his fears, while she seems to have found balance and tranquility in a peaceful commune and motherhood. He is constantly documenting his life (via Instagram), she lives more in the here and now. As the film progresses, the two grow closer. This happens very organically, just like reminiscing about their (short) time together. ‘Lost & Found’ has two protagonists in Suijker and Hoekstra who carry the film and who are absorbed in their characters in a very natural way. Both are not afraid to present themselves less sympathetic. Suijker and Hoekstra also have a nice, convincing chemistry together.

With the Telefilm ‘Lost & Found’, director Nicole van Kilsdonk and screenwriter Johan Fretz have made a film rich in dialogue in the style of Richard Linklater and Woody Allen, which broaches recognizable themes and is supported by the talented actors Suijker and Hoekstra. Moreover, a film with a starring role for the dynamic German capital Berlin, which flourishes in all its nocturnal beauty.