2018 ‘Gewoon vrienden’ Directed by Annemarie van de Mond
Joris is trying to come to terms with his broken family relationships on the 10th anniversary of his father’s death when he meets the free-spirited, Yad. Also dealing with family issues, Yad has returned home to The Netherlands after living on his own. Joris and Yad spark an instant connection and decide they want to be more than “just friends,” but fear their families could threaten their relationship.
好朋友, Apenas Amigos, 저스트 프렌드, Kizárólag barátság, Просто друзья
UK
UK15
FranceU
France16
Germany6
UK15
FranceU
FranceU
Netherlands6
France
Germany
Netherlands
UK
he made a fanvid of their relationship set to bon iver and i never laughed so fucking hard in my life
I didn’t know you could tattoo somebody’s ashes on your body. My ex’s crazy mother would have loved that. This was r sweet. It also doesn’t hurt that the main character looked like a runway model. Loved the sassy mum and grandma too.
A gay romcom made by a female with a good dose of female gaze, lots of emphasis on the mens bodies and bulges. 😍
The movie feels kinda trashy and soapy at times, for a European gay film it’s surprisingly very light hearted and easygoing, but that was a kinda refreshing change.
dutch gay movies are such an untapped resource... this and jongens (2014)! gezellig!! underrated!
"Love can't be controlled. It controls you."
You'd have to be absurdly clueless not to have a particularly bittersweet feeling seeing queer cinematic romance portrayed in a matter-of-fact way. Yes, to exactly no one's surprise, this is still the case, even in 2020. While Gewoon vrienden would have benefited from a more nuanced approach (there are some oddly dated corny details sprinkled here and there), it's nevertheless a solid queer rom-com that balances the cutesy usual suspects (meet-cute and all) with universally accessible family drama. The latter is richer than it ought to be thanks to some decent portrayals that convey a depth that the near-surface-level script merely hints at. It's a (far too) short flick that carries itself on…
surf? yaaaaaas
gay cliché? yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasss
happy ending? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSS QUEEN YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASS
