Nothing Strange (2021)

Directed by: Andrejs Ekis | 87 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Ilse Warringa, Tina de Bruin, Peggy Vrijens, Frederik Brom, Loek Peters, Juvat Westendorp

Latvian filmmaker Andrejs Ekis scored a big hit in his own country in 2016 with his romantic comedy ‘Swingers’, an ensemble film in which couples venture into the phenomenon of ‘swinging’. Something like this should also catch on in other European countries, Ekis must have thought, because not long after the Latvian version, Estonian, Ukrainian, Norwegian and Polish versions also appeared and the Russian film version is in the making. Ekis directs all films himself, mostly at the original shooting location in Latvia, but does seek collaboration with local screenwriters. The romantic comedy genre has been popular in the Netherlands for years – even if the films are of varying quality – and so Ekis will also be an interesting market for his swinger comedy in our country. He entered into a collaboration with Nienke Römer, who edited the scenario and poured a Dutch sauce over it. Römer previously wrote screenplays for films such as ‘Hartentocht’ (2016) and ‘Oh Baby’ (2017) and the TV series ‘Soof: A New Beginning’. For ‘Nothing strange about’, the Dutch remake of ‘Swingers’, Römer’s husband Frederik Brom, among others, was roped in for one of the leading roles.

Suus (Ilse Warringa) clearly falls short at home, because at work – she has a decent office job at the municipality – she secretly watches porn. Her husband Mats (Loek Peters), with whom she has been married exactly 18 years today, wrote a bestseller twenty years ago, but has struggled with his inspiration ever since. He is so busy with his work that he neglects Suus a bit. They absolutely love each other, but the spunk is all off. And sexually nothing happens between the two. Suus has bought an exciting lingerie set to warm things up a bit, but Mats has completely forgotten about the wedding day and quickly crumples up a voucher for 18 vacuuming times. In a desperate attempt to get some more tension in her (sex) life, Suus registers them with a swingers app. Not that Mats is waiting for that, but he will really have to believe it. Xander (Frederik Brom) and Daniëlle (Peggy Vrijens) are the couple who come to visit them that same evening. At first glance they are much better off. Xander is brimming with confidence (or is he just faking it?) and very pleased with himself and his pretty girlfriend. They have succeeded in their work, but Xander in particular lacks a bit of tension – a need that is fed by a friend who constantly lures him out of the tent. Danielle would actually like to have a child; maybe if she does Xander a favor and goes to swingers night, she can finally get him there…?

As the two couples get to know each other in an uneasy way, something miraculous happens one floor below. The mousy single forty-something Lot (Tina de Bruin) is just sitting in her house suit drinking a cup of tea when she finds a naked man on her balcony. This Illias (Juvat Westendorp) appears to have visited the neighbor and to have rendered her services as a gigolo, until her son (Maurits Delchot) chased him out the door. Lot threatens to call the police first, but because Ilias turns out to be no evil and he can’t go anywhere because his assailant is waiting for him on the other side of the door, she offers him a cup of tea (and an apron). Although their lives seem miles apart, it turns out Lot and Illias can learn a lot from each other.

The actors in ‘Nothing Strange About’ do their very best to make it work, but can’t prevent this film from looking easy, messy and cheap. Director Ekis apparently used the sets and sets that he also used for his Latvian version and adds a few aerial shots of Amsterdam for the form, but of course the Dutch film viewer does not fall for this. More time, money and energy could (should) have been invested in making it a real Dutch film. In addition, ‘Nothing strange about’ is not as mischievous as the film pretends to be: by Dutch standards it all remains fairly well-behaved and the jokes intended as ‘sexy’ sometimes seem farcical. The chemistry between the actors also leaves much to be desired. The best match turns out to be the one between Lot and Illias, the two opposites who meet by chance and who – unlike the other couples – remain close to themselves in all their discomfort. They are also the only two characters who are satisfied with their lives, even if it is not perfect and ‘in the ideal picture’. That message of acceptance – it’s okay if you’re happy on your own – fits more with our present time than the somewhat corny, quasi-mischievous excesses of the other characters. Perhaps that will still work in certain Eastern European countries in 2021, but in the Netherlands we are really doing things differently these days.