For a Lost Soldier

In the 1980s, middle-aged ballet dancer Jeroen grows dissatisfied with his dancers' interpretation of an autobiographical ballet and confides in Laura, showing a photo of his younger self and a pair of vintage sunglasses. He reveals he's searching for a Canadian soldier named Walt and decides to visit the village where his foster family lived, carrying the sunglasses and speaking to his teenage self.

Jeroen travels to the countryside to reach the village of his foster family and engages in a mental dialogue with his teenage self as the memory unfolds. The narrative then shifts back to 1944, plunging us into the war time chapter.

At age 11, Jeroen is sent to a foster family in the countryside to escape hunger. The mix-up—they expected a girl—does not prevent the family from treating him kindly and beginning to anchor him in a new sense of belonging.

On his first night, Jeroen wets the bed while sharing a bed with Henk, the older son. He also starts to realize he is gay as he discovers his attractions.

A Canadian warplane crashes near the village beach, capturing Jeroen's imagination. He and his bisexual friend Jan try to explore the wreck but fail.

When Canadian liberators arrive, Jeroen meets Walt, a soldier, and they begin flirting. The attraction marks the beginning of a secret connection across the war.

At a party, Jeroen and Walt secretly dance and grow closer. The two meet again later, and Jeroen accompanies Walt to the soldiers' hotel.

They join others at the beach, then return to the hotel to retrieve a jeep, only to find Walt's comrades have disabled it. Walt sneaks inside to fix it and later showers before rejoining Jeroen.

On the following Sunday, Jeroen fends off another assault by Jan. He and Walt attend a church service, and Walt gives him a driving lesson. After more intimacy, Jeroen hides one of Walt's photos inside his shirt.

Walt's comrades arrive and suggest a group photo with Jeroen's foster family. While developing the photos, Jeroen ruins the negative, then comforts Walt and promises they will always be together, unaware Walt is leaving the next day.

The next day, Jeroen overhears that Walt is leaving. He searches for Walt, becomes distraught, pushes his younger sister off her bike in a moment of anger, and a stormy night leads him to impale his hand on barbed wire after mistaking a scarecrow for Walt wearing a tag.

Hait finds him, burns the scarecrow the next morning, and later secretly places Walt's camera films in Jeroen's suitcase. He also passes Walt's sunglasses to Jeroen's mother to relay to Walt, and asks for a photo of them together.

Back in the 1980s, Jeroen's dancers perform with renewed resolve as he guides them through the final rehearsal. Laura hands him an envelope containing an enlarged photo of his foster family and a zoomed image of Walt's identification tag, revealing Walt's contact information.