Holland Isn’t Heaven (But Neither is Anywhere Else on Earth)

“Every day I get to wake up in the best place on earth: Holland, Michigan.”

So says Nancy Vandergroot (Nicole Kidman) at the beginning of Holland, a new thriller, streaming on Prime, set in the title city in 2000. Nancy’s voiceover accompanies images of children in traditional Dutch costumes and a miniature model of the town. Everything appears beautiful, tidy, and serene—until we see Nancy getting her picture taken in her own Dutch costume, the camera slowly zooming closer and closer. We notice her smile is forced, while the flash of the camera bulb gives her eyes a glassy glow. The facade of a perfect life in a perfect city starts to crack.

Fun fact: Holland, Michigan is a real city. I should know—I’m a born-and-bred native Hollander. Holland sits on Lake Michigan, a small beach town known for its very real (and very popular) Tulip Time Festival, which is a centerpiece of this film. Holland, as the name would imply, is steeped in Dutch heritage. Though Holland has certainly embraced the identity of a modern city, these traditions remain prevalent.

Although only a few scenes were filmed on location, the movie's producers held a special screening in Holland that I was able to attend. Director Mimi Cave and production designer JC Molina participated in a Q&A after the screening, where Molina mentioned that they visited Holland more than five times, touring many homes in order to get everything from architecture to wallpaper to tulip duvets correct in the film. In fact, I noticed that the drinking glasses Nancy and her family use throughout the movie were nearly identical to the ones I had growing up.

The meticulous production design helps paint the picture of a perfect life in an idyllic town where the most important thing to Nancy is whether or not the tulips bloom on time. Nancy and her husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen), a well-respected optometrist, live in a beautiful home with their teenage son, Harry (Jude Hill). Nancy helps with pancake breakfasts, attends church regularly, and admonishes Harry for swearing. She teaches at the local high school and befriends Holland newcomer and fellow teacher Dave (Gael García Bernal). But Nancy’s perfect life isn’t all that it seems. In their garage, where Fred keeps his miniature diorama of Holland, Nancy finds a hidden box containing Polaroid film and an unopened package. She starts to think that Fred’s frequent trips for work are perhaps a cover for an affair. She recruits Dave to help her spy on Fred. As they get deeper into the mystery, they also begin to develop feelings for one another. The final third of the film is an explosion of chaos and tulips, with dark secrets revealed amid the joviality of Tulip Time.

At the hometown screening, Cave said she became interested in Holland because she wanted to explore dark themes set against the background of an idyllic town. In Cave’s version of Holland, Fred has created a “heaven on earth” for Nancy, acting as a false god who promises to keep her safe from unnamed dangers. Fred’s “heaven,” however, is really a box, fabricated with lies even as it’s lined with kindnesses. (Slight spoilers ahead.) Fred and Nancy put their faith in this false heaven for different reasons. Fred believes it will allow him to live a “normal” and upstanding life with Nancy, while keeping her in the dark (and safe) from his nefarious secrets. Nancy, meanwhile, believes it will give her the stability she’s always craved. She mentions to Dave that she was in a bad place when she met Fred, but now her life is perfect—until her heaven becomes hell.

Timothy Keller, in his book Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters, writes: “If I have that [a false idol], then I will feel like my life has meaning. Then I’ll know I have value. And I’ll feel significant and secure.” At one point in the film, Fred finds evidence of Nancy’s spying and lies. Instead of expressing anger, he tells her that they can “reset” and start over. Nancy promises to be a better wife and mother. Fred’s kindness seems to always win over Nancy. Even when red flags abound, she falls back on his promises of safety, stability, and love.

Too late, Nancy realizes that she’s trapped in a box of Fred’s making, imprisoned and enshrined like the miniature townspeople of his model Holland. Sometimes willful naivete keeps us from recognizing the false idols in our midst. Sometimes we see the cracks, but believe that if we just fix ourselves and keep up the facade, our fragile world will stay together. At a later point in the film, after secrets are revealed, Nancy puts her hope and salvation in Dave, another false god whom she believes can give her the stable, happy life she desperately wants. But it becomes clear that placing faith in any one person will also come with disappointment.

With their world threatening to break apart, Nancy tells Dave that they “just need to make it to Tulip Time.” While the line is comical in nature (who cares about a festival when your life is in shambles?), it’s also incredibly relatable. As humans, we often believe that if we persevere just a little longer and hold out for the next false god, the next heaven on earth, we will find our salvation. It’s only when we learn that there’s no place where we can outrun our trauma do we finally surrender to God. Keller echoes this, writing: “The only way to free ourselves from the destructive influence of counterfeit gods is to turn back to the true one, the living God. . . . he’s the only one who if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and if you fail him, can truly forgive you.” Proverbs reminds us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” Giving up the belief in a false heaven can be daunting, but we are reminded that the true God will “make your paths straight.”

As the mayor of Holland told the crowd at the screening, “Holland is not a documentary.” Holland is certainly idyllic, especially when the tulips are in full bloom. But no city can stand in for heaven, even though people like Frank and Nancy exist within the context of that belief. Sometimes the proverbial (or literal) wooden shoe drops, and you realize that heaven can’t be created by anyone but God.

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At Think Christian, we encourage careful cultural discernment. We recognize and respect that many Christians choose not to engage with pop culture that contains particular content, such as abuse, sex, violence, alcohol or drug use, or that employs the use of coarse language. To that end, we suggest visiting Common Sense Media for detailed information regarding the content of the particular pieces of pop culture discussed in this article.