The Surprise (2015)

After signing an agreement with a company that offers to end their lives when they least expect it, a dejected millionaire and a disheartened young woman fall in love and must find a way to get out of their binding contracts.

Director:

Mike van Diem

Writers:

Mike van Diem (screenplay), Mike van Diem (screen story)

Stars:

Jeroen van Koningsbrugge, Georgina Verbaan, Jan Decleir

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jeroen van Koningsbrugge	...	Jacob van Zuylen de With
Georgina Verbaan	...	Anne de Koning
Jan Decleir	...	Cornald Muller
Henry Goodman	...	Mr. Jones
Ankur Bahl	...	Asif
Naveed Choudhry	...	Moshin
Oliver Gatz	...	Halim
Ronny Jhutti	...	Khuram
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elisabeth Andersen	...	Mother
Tamar Baruch	...	Marissa de la Rue
Michiel Blankwaardt	...	Truckdriver
Pierre Bokma	...	Security Van Zuylen Foundation
Judith Edixhoven	...	Assistant De Wijs
Hubert Fermin	...	De Wijs
Reinier Hattink	...	Assistant De Wijs

Storyline

An eccentric multimillionaire signs an agreement to have his life ended. While selecting his coffin he meets a young woman who has signed up for the same arrangement. Trouble ensues when the couple fall in love and wish to get out of the contract.

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Plot Keywords:

based on story | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Mike van Diem's first film in 18 years.

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Connections

Referenced in De slimste mens ter wereld: Episode #7.5 (2015)

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Soundtracks

Requiem (Aeternam)
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Licensed by allmusic.nl

User Reviews

Wonderful dark comedy

My expectations were low because of the trailer, but this dark comedy was both less dark and less predictable than I expected, and honestly one of the best foreign language films I've seen in a long time. The direction is tight and just about perfect. You can see the influence of both Wes Anderson and Francis Veber in it, especially in the atmosphere, but unlike WA it isn't so over the top as to take you out of the movie, and the comedy is less broad than in a FV film.

Jeroen van Koningsbrugge is completely believable in the title role, and while Georgina Verbaan's role is less complex she does have the difficult task of being a compelling romantic target for a without falling into a classic trope, and I would say she got it spot-on. The other actors are fine in roles that however are fairly one-dimensional

Visually the movie is stunning, and it has some great cars; don't watch it on a small screen if you can avoid it. An American remake would probably make it all about the car chases, which here are just the right length.

I wish Mike van Diem had more film credits, but apparently Hollywood sucked his soul and he spent 15 years recovering. The Surprise was a hell of a comeback.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official site [Netherlands]

Country:

Netherlands Belgium Germany Ireland

Language:

Dutch English Hindi French German

Release Date:

2015 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

The Surprise

Filming Locations:

Beloeil, Belgium

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,224,452

Company Credits

Production Co:

N279 Entertainment, FATT Productions, Prime Time

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1