Doris
Director: Albert Jan van Rees
Writer: Roos Ouwehand
Cast: Tjitske Reidinga, Guy Clemens, Hendrikje Nieuwerf, Tarik Moree, Roos Ouwehand, Monique van de Ven, Bracha van Doesburgh
Seen on: 17.2.2021

Plot:
Doris (Tjitske Reidinga) was recently divorced and now has to face a fresh start with her two teenaged children (Hendrikje Nieuwerf, Tarik Moree). That she has spent her marriage as a houswife, makes that new start even harder. As if that wasn’t enough, Doris starts to have romantic dreams about her best friend Tim (Guy Clemens). But Tim just seems to have started dating a co-worker, Lynn (Bracha van Doesburgh), and Doris may not have a chance to tell him how she feels.

Doris may not reinvent the genre and didn’t leave me overcome by emotion, but it is a very well executed, enjoyable genre addition that gives older women something to enjoy instead of pretending that if you didn’t find the right person by age 25, everything is over. That message is needed and appreciated.

Doris is a sweet RomCom that is set apart from many others by the fact that Doris is middle-aged – usually an age for women that is either entirely ignored in films, or the setting for a drama. For that alone I have to show the film some extra love, but it’s not all the film has to offer.

Reidinga and Clemens have good chemistry with each other and it feels very real that Doris and Tim have known each other since about forever. I personally like the friends-to-lovers dynamic a lot and it is very well set in scene here.

As a fan of Jane Austen myself, I also enjoyed that Doris’ – another Austen fan – dreams take place in Austenland, basically. It was a really cute gimmick that the film doesn’t overuse and that even gets a pay-off in the end, and that’s always nice.

I may not be falling over myself with excitement about the film, but I really enjoyed it a lot and if you’re looking for something sweet to watch, it would be a very good choice.

Summarizing: very entertaining.