If "Terug naar de Kust" would have been an American film, it surely would have become the type of standard TV-thriller starring previously popular but already washed up soap actresses (Heather Locklear or Yasmine Bleeth, for instance) that only gets programmed on Saturday afternoons on mediocre cable channels. That may sound very harsh, but it's the truth. Luckily for everyone involved, this is a Dutch film production and since feminist thrillers are still relatively rare and innovative in this part of the world, "Terug naar de Kust" became a highly profiled and unanimously acclaimed hit. All the ingredients for local success are there. Lead actress Linda De Mol is probably the most popular Dutch actress of the past two decades, the plot is adapted from a bestseller novel by a female author (Saskia Noort) and the entire male supportive cast exists of respectable actors as well. Throw in a simplistic but identifiable plot and a whole lot of reliable thriller clichés and you've got yourself a bona fide national blockbuster. I certainly don't intend to sound arrogant or disrespectful towards the Dutch film industry, as "Terug naar de Kust" still remains a well made and cleverly promoted film, but it merely just stands for brainless entertainment and certainly isn't a major cinematic accomplishment for a nation to be proud of. The title literally translates itself as "Return to the Coast" and illustrates our protagonist Maria's attempt to flee from a series of misfortunes that suddenly overcomes her. Shortly after separating from her adulterous and heavily drinking boyfriend, and having performed an abortion without discussing it with him, Maria receives death threats from an anonymous stalker. The assigned police inspector doesn't take her very serious and even implies that she sent the notes herself as a cry for attention, and thus Maria takes her children and moves in with her older sister at their parental house next to the coast. The stalking doesn't stop and arson even destroys her house in Amsterdam, but everything leads back to Maria herself and even she begins to fear that she's slowly becoming psychotic
Like their mother became psychotic when they were still young children. Even if you have only seen one or two thrillers in your entire life, you can easily and precisely predict every next plot twist, explain the mysterious behavior of any random character and even foretell the supposedly shocking finale. The script is thoroughly unsurprising from start to finish and reverts to the oldest tricks in the book in a desperate attempt to generate suspense and confusion amongst the viewers, like overly obvious suspects (the obsessive admirer) and harrowing childhood flashbacks (two innocent girls silently watching their parents' arguing from the stairs, or hiding under the bed). It's almost laughable, incredible and slightly pathetic how director Will Koopman actually dared to use such dreadful clichés! The cast members seem to take their lines serious, nevertheless, and even remain straight-faced in the stupidest situations imaginable. By the way, Koen De Bouw is an extremely talented Belgian actor and should stick to his Belgian roots instead of adapting to a Duch accent which sounds atrocious. He as well as Huub Stapel, Pierre Bokma and Daan Schuurmans are terribly underused, all because everything revolves on Linda De Mol. Unless you are a die-hard fan of her, I don't think there's anything here to recommend. There are rather few action sequences and, with a running time of no less than 110 minutes, I'm sure that many redundant and boring sequences could have been cut.
