Reviews: TV & Music May-June 2025

DENISE K. JAMES ON NEW FILMS AND MUSIC

Holland
Amazon Prime • Rated R 
Starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen

Before sitting down to watch Holland, I Googled it. I had never heard of it, and the opening montage of imagery in this quirky thriller left me with the impression that the town was entirely fictional—perhaps a figment of Nancy Vandergroot’s imagination. In fact, during her opening monologue, Nancy (played by Nicole Kidman) tells us she was “rescued” by her husband, Fred, at a time when she “didn’t trust anyone, not even herself.” Talk about an eye-roll moment, but I kept watching, hoping for the best.

I also looked up the time period. Given the Vandergroots’ peculiar household—its lack of technology and other modern conveniences—it was initially hard to tell. Holland premiered at the South by Southwest Festival in March of this year and was directed by Mimi Cave, best known for music videos and short films. Reviews have been wildly mixed, both from critics and casual viewers whose comments I read online. People either absolutely loathe this film or appreciate its strangeness. I find myself somewhere in between.

We follow Nancy as she pieces together mysteries about her husband Fred—a dull-seeming guy who works as an eye doctor in their ho-hum suburban town. Could it be that Nancy is simply bored, digging for drama where none exists? She even recruits a fellow teacher from her school, Dave, to help her investigate, innocently ignoring the fact that a man wouldn’t involve himself in someone else’s marital mystery unless he thought there was something in it for him. Unfortunately for Dave, Fred isn’t just having an affair—that would be too predictable. Instead, the truth is far more ominous.

Accolades for Holland, at least from my perspective, include the film’s surreal, eerie scenes (like the meatloaf sequence and the oddly childish 13-year-old Harry in Nancy’s dreams) and its nostalgic nods to the Y2K era—DMX, dinosaur-like desktops, and Ask Jeeves as a search engine. But the writing is bad, the ending isn’t believable, and there are no real-life lessons to take away. My suggestion? Put this one on at a party. It’s a conversation piece—and a nostalgic slice of the early aughts.

Lana Del Rey
The Right Person Will Stay
Interscope/Polydor
In this column, I often review artists I know are popular but have never personally been into. Take Lana Del Rey, for example. Still, her latest studio album, optimistically titled The Right Person Will Stay, features so much of what I do appreciate about her—gorgeous vocals and heavy lyrics—that I might have to give it a try, or at least download the title track and “Henry, Come On.”

Bon Iver
Sable, Fable
Jagjaguwar
Bon Iver has played live at a few festivals, and after listening to a few tracks from Sable, Fable, his latest studio album, it’s easy to see why. The feel-good tunes pair perfectly with driving over a bridge in the summer or sitting around a backyard bonfire with friends. Download the aptly titled “Everything Is Peaceful” or the swaying, psychedelic “If Only I Could Wait.”