Josha Stradowski
Joris Wierijn
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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.
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| Homepage | https://wolfereleasing.com/info/title/just-friends-gewoon-vrienden/ |
|---|---|
| Release Date | 2018-03-07 |
| Runtime | 1h 24m |
| Director | Annemarie van de Mond |
| Producer | |
| Writer | Henk Burger |
I really quite enjoyed this - it's a gentle romance in the truest sense of the word - and the two lead performances have much to commend them. "Yad" (Majd Marko - surely a long lost Jonas brother?) takes a job keeping an eye on an elderly lady "Ans" (Jenny Arean) who has a cute grandson "Joris" (Josha Stradowski). She is pretty complicit in getting the two to hookup, and after a brief courting period... What makes this fun is that there are no family issues around their open sexuality. Sure, "Yoris" and his rich, widowed mum have issues - but they have nothing to do with his sexuality and "Yad", is maybe a bit restless but again, no real psychological or emotion baggage to muddy the simplicity of the drama. There's a slightly contrived contretemps between the boys which though a bit unnecessary, it does serve to focus the second part of the film as the threads begin to reconcile. It's a young love story, it doesn't have - insofar as I could spot - any subliminal moral or political messages; indeed, in many ways it typifies the pretty laid back approach the Dutch take to just about everything. It's charming, and it made me smile - old cynic, that I am...!
— CinemaSerf