In the landscape of American cinema, where thrillers often follow predictable patterns, “Holland” emerges as a refreshingly unpredictable journey. Directed by Mimi Cave and starring Nicole Kidman, this Amazon MGM Studios production promises to take viewers on a wild ride through the deceptively charming Dutch-influenced town of Holland, Michigan. Set to stream globally on Prime Video on March 27, the film follows schoolteacher Nancy Vandergroot as she uncovers dark secrets beneath her seemingly perfect life.
Holland was shot on 35 locations in 48 days.
From Black List to Big Screen
“Holland” began its journey nearly a decade ago when screenwriter Andrew Sodroski‘s script landed at the top of the 2013 Black List, Hollywood’s ranking of best unmade screenplays. The writer explains that the concept emerged from a deeply personal place: “It all began with a simple question: How well do we know the people we love? And how well do we want to know them? I was newly married when I conceived of the film, and I was realizing that part of what makes a good marriage is letting your spouse have his or her ‘secret self.‘”
This compelling premise caught the attention of Nicole Kidman and her producing partner Per Saari, who began developing it for their Blossom Films production company. Saari reflects on what drew them to the material: “Nicole and I had been looking for a thriller, something in the Hitchcock zone, when Andrew’s script came our way. There was something so wonderfully classical about Nancy’s journey—something mythological about her descent.“
Mimi Cave’s Vision
The producers took a chance on rising director Mimi Cave, whose acclaimed short films and debut feature “Fresh” had demonstrated her distinct visual style. Cave couldn’t resist the script’s dark ride and saw it as the perfect opportunity to showcase her electric aesthetic.
“The story is such a fun ride,” says Cave, “and one I hope will excite audiences’ imaginations as much as it did mine. As soon as I read it, I couldn’t get Nancy Vandergroot out of my head. She’s so complicated and funny.“
Cave approached the film with a clear vision: to shoot as if the camera were on the other side of Nancy’s skin, capturing the stormy interior of her overactive mind and bringing a heightened, alternately surreal and nightmarish tinge to her world of quaint Americana.
Nicole Kidman Becomes Nancy
Kidman embraced the complexity of Nancy Vandergroot, a character unlike many we see in contemporary thrillers. “Nancy is a neurotic, flawed, yet completely normal woman of a kind you don’t often see in movies,” explains Cave, who was impressed by Kidman’s commitment to bringing audiences into every nuance of Nancy’s subjective experience.
“When we meet Nancy, nothing in particular about her life is going wrong,” notes Kidman. “We see her house and family, and she is somewhat of a picture of what we’re told success and stability look like. But we very quickly see that even though her life appears well and good, she doesn’t feel like it is. I think a lot of people can connect to that feeling.“
Kidman especially relished embodying Nancy’s uninhibited dream life: “I love acting in dream sequences,” she muses, highlighting the film’s exploration of subconscious desires and fears.
An All-Star Cast
Matching Kidman’s Nancy is Matthew Macfadyen as her husband Fred, in what producer Kate Churchill describes as “a total 180 from his celebrated turn as hyper-ambitious Tom Wambsgans in Succession.” Fred’s enigmatic persona is precisely what drew Macfadyen to the role.
“This is a story you think is one thing but then it turns into something entirely different and that’s always the most enjoyable journey for an actor,” Macfadyen says. He credits Cave with giving him the freedom needed to calibrate just how and when to reveal Fred’s obscured layers.
The cast is rounded out by Jude Hill as the Vandergroots’ son Harry and Gael García Bernal as Dave Delgado, Nancy’s colleague who becomes entangled in her investigation. García Bernal was drawn to playing a character rarely given screen time: “I was interested in the fact that Dave is a lonely Midwestern adult with no kids, someone always being seen as a person who is not from his own country simply because he has a Mexican accent.“
Creating Holland’s World
Though much of the film was shot in Tennessee across 35 locations in 48 days, Cave worked closely with her design team to craft an authentic yet heightened version of Holland, Michigan. Cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, production designer JC Molina, and costume designer Susan Lyall collaborated to create a world at once authentically rich with quirky Americana and darkly distorted by Nancy’s anxieties.
“The dream-state quality of Nancy’s world was built through the cinematography, production design, and costumes,” explains Saari. “Everything the audience sees is one degree removed from reality but planted 100 percent in Nancy’s perspective.“
For costume designer Lyall, “Holland” became a personal odyssey as she embraced her own Dutch roots. She even traveled to the Netherlands to bring back authentic fabrics and created over 250 traditional Dutch costumes for the film’s climactic Tulip Time parade sequence.
One of the film’s key design elements is the elaborate model train set that Nancy’s husband and son build in the garage. “The train became a truly incredible set,” says Churchill. “It’s so important to the film’s theme of whether or not you control your own story—and to reflecting how Nancy feels as if she is living inside a miniaturized, unreal world.“
A Thrilling Journey
As “Holland” approaches its release, the filmmakers hope audiences will find themselves fully immersed in Nancy’s journey. “I hope it pulls audiences into Nancy’s journey with the same force that Nancy is pulled into it,” says Saari. “The intensity of the performances mixed with Mimi’s visual style put you on a twisty, surprising path that transports you to a whole other place.“
Beyond the thrills, Sodroski hopes viewers will see something of themselves in the story: “I hope audiences will recognize a bit of themselves in Nancy’s funny contradictions, in her messy desires, and in her big dreams. And that they might ask themselves, how well do I really know the people I love? And how well do I even know myself?“
“Holland” streams globally on Prime Video March 27.
