Alex Van Wamerdam has a following for his work, and anyone who is a fan of his work or is used to his style of storytelling will most likely be satisfied with his newest outing, Nr. 10. The film mainly focuses on Gunter played by Tom Dewispelaere, as he is leading a life as a stage actor, raising a daughter, and having an affair. Gunter, never cared about his past or wanted to know about his past or his parents, however a strange man appears on a bridge and whispers a mysterious word, kamaihí, that changes Gunter’s life forever.
Gunter is in a play with Marius, played by Pierre Bokma, Isabel played by Anneik Pheifer and Lizzy played by Frieda Barnhard. While the movie starts off in an uncomfortable rehearsal as Marius cannot for the life of him remember his lines, the director is getting fed up, and Gunter just wants to move on with his day and not deal with Marius’ nonsense. While the film takes a while to get to its central story arch, the uncomfortable unfolding of this play is truly something that brings cringe to the forefront. The films takes the sharpest 180 degree turn I’ve seen in a film and goes into a complete insane story line that has to be seen to be believed.
What makes Nr.10 work so well is you never truly know where the movie is going, it takes wild turn after wild turn that has a third act so mind bogglingly crazy that is just has to be experienced. As well the performances from Tom Dewispelaere and Pierre Bokma bring everything to the table and deliver some remarkable performances, whether it is either through their frustration with the play failing or the absolute chaos their life spins into due to a mysterious man speaking a mysterious word.
Nr. 10 should be experienced, analyzed and watched again for its unpredictability and absolute shock and awe factor. Never has a film turned so hard on what it was originally intending to be to something so completely different and worked on such a strong level that audiences won’t be able to stop thinking about it. Nr.10 is a delight from start to finish.
