Anne+
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Anne+
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Anne+, based on a Dutch TV series of the same name, is a story about a young lesbian woman finding her own identity and path in life. The film has explicit sex scenes and language. The main character and her friends define and talk about their sexuality and gender in different ways. They use terms like "lesbian," "queer," "nonbinary," "polyamorous," "cishet," "heteronormative," and various pronouns. A character has scars where breasts have been removed. The racially diverse group of friends also dress up as drag queens and kings as "a way to rebel against the norm." Sex scenes are explicit, and all body parts except full-frontal nudity are seen. Characters have sex using a vibrator or a strap-on. There is kissing, breast suckling, butt biting, graphic depiction of orgasms, and talk of what is "sexy" and being "horny." Scenes show characters performing sexualized dances. The young adults drink profusely and also smoke, including joints. "F--k" is used regularly, and language also includes "s--t," "bulls--t," "goddamn," "t-ts," "d--k," and "ass," and "Jesus" and "God" as exclamations. The film was reviewed in Dutch with English subtitles.
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What's the Story?
Anne (Hanna van Vliet), the title character of ANNE+, is an aspiring novelist whose girlfriend, Sara (Jouman Fattal), is moving from their hometown of Amsterdam to Montreal for a job. The two have agreed on an open relationship until Anne moves there in a matter of weeks. But when Sara starts "flirting" with another woman, Anne begins to second-guess her future. Meanwhile, her publisher tells her that she needs to rewrite her novel entirely. On a night out with her gang of friends, she feels an instant attraction for Lou (Thorn Roos de Vries). The two begin a relationship and have long conversations about what being "queer" means to them and what Anne wants out of life. Anne knows she's at a crossroads and will have to make some big decisions before she can move forward.
Is It Any Good?
With an absorbing performance by star van Vliet at its center, this film meanders a bit plot-wise but offers an interesting view into a specific community, time, and place. Based on the Dutch TV series of the same name co-created by van Vliet, Anne+ is about friendship, love, relationships, identity, gender, and self-expression. It captures that exuberant mid-20s moment in life where every day is a party and sexual energy runs high, when everything is possible but concrete decisions about the future still have to be made.
Anne has written a book that her publisher critiques as having a main character who is lost and has no goals. The insight explains Anne's own issues and foreshadows a break in her current plans, which she slowly realizes she didn't actively participate in making. For the queer community shown here, identity issues are complicated by nonaccepting families and a "heteronormative" society. They spend a lot of time talking about this, and the character of Lou (Roos de Vries) gets a bit preachy at moments. But certainly, these characters will resonate with some viewers, and the film is well-paced, filmed, and acted.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the Anne+ characters' varying expressions of their gender and sexual identity. What is the significance of each person defining their own terms and pronouns? What is your own experience with this?
In what ways do you think the main character of Anne's book is similar to her? How do her experiences shape what she writes?
What are some aspects of the lifestyle in Amsterdam that this film depicts?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: February 11, 2022
- Cast: Hanna van Vliet, Jouman Fattal, Thorn Roos de Vries
- Director: Valerie Bisscheroux
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: Friendship
- Run time: 95 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: September 30, 2022
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