Happy Ending Review: Releasing on September 1, 2023, the new Dutch romantic comedy film stars Gaite Jansen as Luna, Martijn Lakemeier as Mink and Joy Delima as Eve in the lead roles. The movie has been directed and written by Joosje Duk, and produced by Max de Wolf.
With a runtime of 93 minutes, the movie has been rated ‘A’ due to inclusion of sex scenes and nudity. English subtitles and dubbed audio are also available for international audiences on the streaming platform.
Happy Ending Dutch Movie Review Contains No Spoilers
Focussing on the titular couple of Luna and Mink, who’re celebrating their one-year-anniversary of being together, the movie then shifts its focus to drawing our attention to the not so perfect dynamic between the “perfect couple” in love. Luna has for long been keeping a secret from Mink so as not to hurt him and neither “ruin the mood” when they’re in bed. While their sex life still appears to be exciting as ever, Luna has been faking her orgasms since the beginning with her partner, and to spice things up, she suggests that they try something different and new, mostly in hopes for a satisfying climax.
Once Luna musters the courage to bring this idea up to Mink, she suggests that they have a threesome. And then, this leads them to scouring The Hague for the perfect person to complete their trio. Although initially things get excitingly fired up, Luna and Mink’s relationship soon starts unravelling as unspoken truths come to the top.
Happy Ending Review: Discussion
Just looking up at the aforementioned summary of the movie gives you a fair idea of how things may unfold in this latest steamy Netflix venture. And I assure you that you’ve probably landed really close to unraveling what this whole movie is about without even watching it, because unfortunately, as always, the OTT platform’s movie releases have nothing fresh to talk about. Despite putting on the mask that may make the viewers think that this one has something significantly healthy to discuss around the bedroom department, it again gets caught up with visually capturing the act of it more than talking about things that matter.
Yet again, it’s tiring to see that contemporary movies of the new age persistently try to pick between either/or. International content attempts to drive an extreme point of view each time. And especially with almost all the content that Netflix is endorsing nowadays, relationships are being portrayed as a fickle extension of characters’ expression of lust. That’s it.
With a couple that’s been together for a year, you’d expect them to have a deeper emotional bond too, but it’s all missing. Despite driving up a healthy conversation (barely though) around the exploration of intimacy, the one question that I haven’t stopped asking myself about these Netflix characters is – why should I, or anyone for that matter, care about them? – and the answer has always been a resounding flat silence. None of these characters seem to have a voice; the only thing describing their personalities is their reductive obsession with sex (just like Netflix).
None of them are interested in having a meaningful conversation with the other, and while I get that is exactly what the movie is trying to convey as well, that people find it difficult to openly talk about their sexual needs and what truly satisfies them, there are other things to a couple’s relationship as well. The fact that the movie hinges on the image of them going strong for a year despite this level of a lack of communication between them is again an unrealistic image.
And this is also why many of Netflix’s new characters are so redundant and easy to dislike. Neither do we get to know them as people aside from their singular desire to jump into bed with someone, nor do they ever try to establish an argument for themselves as to why the viewers should root for them.
Once you get past that, you can see that somewhere the movie organically ties in the concept of same sex love, and though its appreciable how the same is not made a big deal out of but actually normalised, by the end of the movie, it too emerges as a fickle inclusion in the plot and is a massive letdown. It may have been a great addition to have Luna as the movie’s grey protagonist, who’s still figuring out what she wants out of a relationship, but this angle’s execution is a big failure because the movie itself seems to be far away from grasping a good sense of understanding of what it wants out of its characters.
Her involvement with Eve is made such a big deal out of, but ultimately, it neither comes up as a casual hook-up, nor does it cook up a worthwhile profound relationship. It’s simply frustrating to watch it all unfold and then for all of it to amount to nothing consequential.
The only sequence that I found to be actually worth watching is the last and final bit between Luna and Mink’s characters, as they indulge in a much-needed open conversation that has long been overdue. And again, that rolls out of the screen very soon, leaving back a romanticised picturesque view that has nothing big to offer.
What I just can’t seem to accept is the fact that such movies often depict their leading pairs to be fighting over something, but the latest romantic counterparts of this category never delve deep into showing us why its essential for these characters to be trying their best to make things work in the end. Is it just a “happy ending” because that’s how these movies are supposed to conclude? Or is their love even worth fighting for? We will never know.
Happy Ending Netflix Movie: Final Thoughts
The actors may have settled into the shoes of their characters well, but the troublesome lack of depth of these characters pushes their work down the drain. For once, I would like to watch a Netflix movie that doesn’t have sex as its plot, but actually has something valid and profound to say about its character’s personal issues and how it in turn ties up with their troubled dynamics with others.
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