‘Met Mes’: Rotterdam Review

Dir/scr: Sam de Jong. Netherlands. 2022. 79 mins

A TV presenter resigns from her job hosting a tacky but popular game show in order to make an earnest documentary about “the neighbourhood”. Almost immediately, her brand new VHS camera is stolen. In order to be taken seriously by the police, she lies, inventing a knife-point robbery (the title directly translates as “with knife”) rather than the more benign distraction hustle which suckered her. It’s a lie which will have grave consequences for the main suspect, a teenager who just wants to fit in with his peers. The layer of irony that coats this offbeat morality tale from Sam de Jong is almost as thick as the 1980s-style hair gel and day-glo eyeliner sported by the characters. And it rather prevents much in the way of emotional engagement with either the picture or its subjects.

There could be cult appeal and interest from LGBTQ+ festivals and events

This is the third feature from Sam de Jong, whose debut film, Prince, earned a special mention in the Generation 14plus section of Berlin in 2015. De Jong’s fizzing, super-saturated colour palette and camp approach might not be for all audiences, but there could be cult appeal and interest from LGBTQ+ festivals and events. The film will be released domestically by Gusto entertainment, where its profile should be boosted by local familiarity with the cast. 

Hadewych Minis stars as Eveline, a household name who longs for a professional respect that her glossy gameshow work can never provide. In her whimsically 1980s-styled apartment – large chunks of the film play out in what could be a three dimensional Athena poster – she plans her career move: a socially aware film which will engage with the truth about the less privileged in her city, whilst also revealing hitherto unsuspected hidden depths to Eveline’s adoring public. Her boyfriend buys her a camera and Eveline wafts away to gaze pityingly at poor people. 

Meanwhile, Yousef (Shahine El-Hamus) is a teenager who craves acceptance. And acceptance requires exactly the right pair of angular sunglasses that all the cool, wealthy kids are currently sporting. His rich buddy Redouan (Oussama Ahammoud) suggests a naïve scheme – Yousef distracts Eveline, while Redouan steals her camera. Yousef then trades the equipment for a pair of the sunglasses. 

Although Yousef is a thief who is unduly swayed by peer group pressure, de Jong encourages the audience to sympathise with him, rather than with Eveline. He does this with lots of lingering shots of Yousef’s soulful eyes and a scene in which, for no apparent reason, Yousef appears without a shirt.

The deliberate artificiality of the approach extends from the use of colour – brain-frying dayglo tones – to the quirky sound design which borrows from daytime television game show sound effects. It’s questionable whether something so self-consciously synthetic can take itself seriously enough to have a message, but there’s a satirical dig, perhaps, at the privilege of the creative process. “I wonder if you really care about your subjects,” says one character to Eveline. “Or whether it is vanity that drives you.”