The Northerners

The story unfolds during the 1960s, a decade of postwar modernization in Western Europe. The neighborhood's modernization clashes with stubborn traditions, and newsreel broadcasts about Congo shape a child's imagination. The period's social tensions color everyday life with a mix of hope, fear, and cynicism.

Set in a decaying 1960s housing development in the Netherlands, the film centers on a tight-knit, eccentric community living under the weight of neglect. Crumbling buildings and cramped flats create a claustrophobic backdrop for secrecy, rumor, and sudden surreal turns. The environment mirrors the moral chaos and absurdity that unfold among neighbors, families, and misfits.

🌀 Surrealism

Surreal elements permeate ordinary life, bending logic with uncanny episodes. A forest encounter with a half-naked woman and a boy’s Lumumba-inspired identity blur fantasy and reality. The town’s rituals and whispers reveal deeper emotional currents beneath a veneer of normalcy. The surreal tone exposes the fragility of conventional morality and how people cope with upheaval.

🙏 Saintliness

Martha’s supposed sanctity turns the home into a shrine, drawing villagers into a spectacle of faith. The line between devotion and manipulation becomes blurry as suffering is commodified for communal benefit. Family life is reframed through religious ritual rather than honest communication. The theme asks how far faith can be used to mask pain or control others.

🗡️ Violence

Violence threads through the narrative: domestic tension, a gun-wielding forester, and a fatal accident. The town’s moral fiber unravels as aggression and coercion replace empathy. The physical decay of the environment mirrors the decline of personal ethics. Violence acts as a catalyst for inequality and tragedy.

🗺️ Colonialism & Race

An Africana exhibition and a portrayal of a Black man reveal a disturbing gaze of racism and curiosity in the town. The Congo news and Lumumba’s murder haunt the boy’s imagination, exposing how colonial attitudes haunt everyday life. The film critiques voyeurism and prejudice embedded in Western society. These elements complicate the otherwise domestic satire with a sharp global lens.