We (2018 film)

We
We
	Film poster
Dutch	Wij
Directed by	Rene Eller
Written by	Rene Eller
Based on	Wij; by Elvis Peeters
Produced by	Rene Eller; Julius Ponten;
Starring	Aimé Claeys; Tijmen Govaerts; Pauline Casteleyn; Maxime Jacobs; Friso van der Werf;
Cinematography	Maxime Desmet
Edited by	Wouter van Luijn
Music by	Colin Stetson
Production; companies	Pragma Pictures; New Amsterdam Film Company; A Team Productions; Umedia; BNN-VARA; Vice Benelux; Habbekrats; uFund;
Distributed by	Gusto Entertainment; Artsploitation Films;
Release dates	27 January 2018 (IFFR); 12 July 2018 (Netherlands); 26 September 2018;
Running time	90 minutes
Countries	Netherlands; Belgium;
Languages	Dutch; Flemish;

We (Dutch: Wij) is a 2018 drama film written, directed and co-produced by Rene Eller. The movie was released on January 27, 2018, at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Plot

A group of eight youthful friends (four male and four female) decide to find new ways to entertain themselves during the summertime while not in school. They allow their sexual curiosity to run freely and engage in several explicit sexual games involving explicit sex with each other and in groups. As the group experiments with their newly discovered freedom and in the absence of parental control or norms, some of their sexually oriented exploits become both irresponsible and dangerous to the people they encounter. Four of the youths recount what happened during their trial after they have been apprehended for the death of a innocent person who was unknowingly the victim of one of their sexual pranks.

Cast

Aimé Claeys as Thomas
Tijmen Govaerts as Simon
Pauline Casteleyn as Liesl
Maxime Jacobs as Ruth
Friso van der Werf as Jens
Folkert Verdoorn as Karl
Laura Drosopoulos as Ena
Salomé van Grunsven as Femke
Lieselot Siddiki as Loesje
Gaia Sofia Cozijn as Sarah

Soundtrack

Tiptoe Falls: "Hush"
Colin Stetson: "The Stars in His Head (Dark Lights Remix)"
Colin Stetson: "In Love and in Justice"
Colin Stetson: "From No Part of Me"
Colin Stetson: "Won't Be a Thing to Become"
Colin Stetson: "And Still They Move"
Colin Stetson: "As a Bird or Branch"
Colin Stetson: "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying"
Blind Willie Johnson: "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying"
David Hamilton: "Schubert - Arpeggione Sonata (1st Movement)"
Jackson Tennessee Fourgeaud: "ARP #1"
Colin Stetson: "Red Horse Judges II"

Release

Reception

Patricia Smagge from the "Cinemagazine" wrote: "This film can be seen as a fascinating but jet-black portrait of a generation, or as a disturbing account in which it would have been better to devote more attention to the elaboration of the story and the characters than to bringing moral decay into the picture as explicitly as possible. You will have an opinion about 'We' anyway because it is a film that leaves its mark.^[1] David Pountain writing for FilmDoo stated: "Rene Eller’s bold and sinister portrayal of hedonistic youth is an alarming statement of collective identity, putting a generation’s worst impulses on display while suggesting that the larger ‘we’ of modern society is no less inclined to destruction and debauchery."^[2] Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club decried its nihilistic tone, conceding that "It’s a fairly well-directed and well-acted endeavor, which only adds to the disgust at what a waste it was having talented folks spend so much time on what’s essentially I Dare You to Care About This: The Movie", with pointless violence and cruelty, summing it up as "awful".^[3]

Accolades

We won the Golden Calf (award) of "Best Editing" (for Wouter van Luijn) at the 2018 Nederlands Film Festival.,^[4] the "Best Director" (for Rene Eller) at the 2018 Raindance Film Festival^[5] and the "RIFF Jury Award" of "Best Film" at the Rome Independent Film Festival.^[6]

We was nominated for the "German Independence Award" of "Best Film" at the Oldenburg International Film Festival, the "KNF Award" at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the "Best European First Film" at the Zlín Film Festival.^[5]

References

^ Smagge, Patricia. "Wij (2018)". Cinemagazine (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
^ Pountain, David (16 April 2018). "REVIEW: WE (2018)". FilmDoo. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
^ McLevy, Alex (March 30, 2020). "Wij Isn't Salò for 2020, or the Next Kids—It's Just Repugnant". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
^ "Golden Calf Winners". filmfestival.nl. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Wij (2018) - Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
^ "Film Finalists 2018". Rome Independent Film Festival. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

External links

We at IMDb

[Wij_(2018)_-_Cinemagazine-1] Smagge, Patricia. "Wij (2018)". Cinemagazine (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

[REVIEW:_WE_(2018)_-_FilmDoo-2] Pountain, David (16 April 2018). "REVIEW: WE (2018)". FilmDoo. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

[avc-3] McLevy, Alex (March 30, 2020). "Wij Isn't Salò for 2020, or the Next Kids—It's Just Repugnant". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.

[Golden_Calf_Winners-4] "Golden Calf Winners". filmfestival.nl. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

[Wij_(2018)_-_Awards-5] "Wij (2018) - Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

[Film_Finalists_2018-6] "Film Finalists 2018". Rome Independent Film Festival. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

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