Hemel

Hemel, Hannah Hoekstra, is a young Dutch woman in her mid-twenties who moves through life with a restless appetite for new experiences, often turning to one-night stands with strangers. She shares a notably close, almost defiant bond with her father, Hans Dagelet Gijs, a man who carries the weight of his own emotional history. When Hemel joins him for a dinner party, the atmosphere turns awkward as she witnesses his breakup with his girlfriend, Emma, Eva Duijvestein just before the guests arrive. The moment casts a shadow over the table and sets the tone for a day-to-day life that feels uneasy yet candidly intimate.

In the bathroom after the party, Hemel speaks frankly to Emma about the fleeting nature of relationships, a conversation that cuts to the heart of Hemel’s philosophy: relationships last as long as they last. Emma, Eva Duijvestein argues that Hemel maybe takes more than she gives, a critique that echoes through Hemel’s subsequent actions. The tension between what Hemel desires and what those around her are willing to offer becomes a through-line, guiding choices that feel impulsive yet emotionally charged.

A few nights later, Hemel’s restless streak leads her to a new encounter with a stranger named Jimmy, Ali Ben Horsting. What begins as a casual hook-up quickly turns violent when Jimmy strangles and then rapes her, an act that shatters the veneer of casual sexual daring and leaves Hemel grappling with fear, anger, and a raw sense of violation.

Hemel’s path then takes her to Teun’s birthday party, where she directly challenges Teun’s Christian girlfriend, Annabella, Elske Rotteveel. Hemel argues that suppressing one’s desires in favor of marital virtue is a waste, pressing Annabella to confront the future she may be choosing by restraint rather than passion. The confrontation underscores Hemel’s belief in a more expansive, if precarious, approach to love and loyalty.

Parallel to Hemel’s personal escapades, her father Gijs navigates a complicated triangle of affection and sexuality with Sophie, Rifka Lodeizen, a skilled auctioneer who becomes central in his life. Gijs gifts Sophie a ring inscribed with the phrase “You make me human.” He invites Sophie to join Hemel on her birthday, but before that moment, he confesses that Hemel was almost an accident and that her mother took her own life, a revelation that unsettles Hemel and tests her sense of belonging in her father’s world. Hemel’s reaction is a mix of hostility toward Sophie and a fierce, protective longing for her father’s attention.

The two of them attend an opera together, a scene that briefly binds them in a shared, moving moment as they hold hands before drifting apart. Outside, the smoke of a cigarette marks a fragile, intimate pause between them, a moment that hints at how close they are and how far apart they might remain.

Hemel then embarks on an affair with Douwe, Mark Rietman the husband of one of Gijs’s colleagues, Brechtje. She is surprised to learn that Douwe has had only a few sexual partners, and he confesses that she is the only woman he has ever cheated with because he has never felt that betraying the intimacy with his wife was worth it. Hemel is charmed by him, yet unsettled when he makes clear that their relationship will never last, a reality that clashes with her desire for something lasting and undeniable.

A holiday to Sevilla, Spain, followed, with Gijs and Hemel continuing to test the boundaries of their mutual honesty. They share a bathroom and move around each other with a surprising ease, even naked, challenging Hemel’s sense of propriety and desire. Gijs explains that Sophie will be living in his house, which deepens Hemel’s insecurity, and when Hemel asks why he loves Sophie, he answers that he has nothing to hide from her. Hemel, in turn, defines love as knowing the same things about the other person, a philosophy that increasingly collides with the complexities of their lives. The trip leads Hemel to a stark moment of gaze and fear as she tearfully admits that she once watched a man commit suicide by jumping from a building. That night, Gijs wakes her and carries her to the toilet to urinate, helping her with a difficult, intimate moment, even pulling down her underwear. The next morning, Hemel stands at the edge of a rooftop, peering into the void before she finally leaves, a visual echo of her internal push-pull between safety and risk.

Back home in the Netherlands, Hemel stands in the rain outside Douwe’s house, watching for his return. When he leaves, she knocks on the door, only to be answered by Brechtje, Barbara Sarafian, who reveals Douwe isn’t home. Brechtje’s quiet, empathetic response—drying Hemel’s tears and offering a hug—becomes a surprising moment of tenderness in a life otherwise dominated by volatile emotions and ambiguous loyalties. Across the film, Hemel’s encounters with love, power, and vulnerability reveal a young woman who tests the boundaries of affection and ownership, while Gijs’s quiet, almost clinical openness about his desires and his past invites Hemel to question what it means to truly know someone—and to know oneself.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:10