Mark Reviews Movies: NR. 10

Nr. 10, Drafthouse Films

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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 1, 2022

The plot of Nr. 10 revolves around the dissection of a vast, seemingly impenetrable, and fairly absurd conspiracy. The process of that, especially in the way writer/director Alex van Warmerdam complicates matters by playing with the basics of narrative, is fascinating and engaging. The payoff, though, suggests that filmmaker didn't fully consider where to take this story after the truth of its mystery is revealed.

The first section focuses on a theatrical troupe, currently in the rehearsal phase of an upcoming production that looks like a potential disaster in the making. Marius (Pierre Bokma), a member of the ensemble, is having trouble remembering his lines, because his bedridden wife coughs through the night and he can't sleep.

Meanwhile, Isabel (Anniek Pheifer), another actor in the company, will be spending some time away from her husband Karl (Hans Kesting), the show's director, to watch a friend's apartment and cats. She's also having an affair Günter (Tom Dewispelaere), the widowed leading man who's trying to hide this relationship from everyone, including his daughter Lizzy (Frieda Barnhard).

The elaborate melodrama here is amusingly convoluted and tricky, with plenty of close calls, characters discovering what seems to be central secret of the whole plot, and a lot of petty acts of vengeance once suspicions are confirmed and jealousy comes into play. Van Warmerdam doesn't even provide us with a main protagonist in the first act, because the machinery of secrecy, betrayal, and revenge means there isn't really a character with whom to sympathize among them. The game of the plotting is the whole point.

That extends beyond the realm of the play and the behind-the-scenes conflict, too, in ways that probably shouldn't be revealed. That's partly because they are surprising, but it's mostly because detailing those other characters, their roles here, and how they become a part of this melodrama would take up the entirety of this review. Anyway, the second act gives us some focus, as Günter attempts to unravel the real mystery behind enigmatic workings behind the real-life, backstage drama that made a mess of a life that turns out to be yet another mystery. It's complicated, to say the least.

The shift also makes for a more straightforward and far less playful narrative, compared to the shenanigans of the opening act. It's all about piecing together a puzzle, whether or not that means a bunch of other pieces are just tossed away once they've fulfilled the early part of the story, and arriving at the clear answer of a much bigger picture.

The big reveal of Nr. 10 is a genuine surprise, if only because it comes out of nowhere. It almost seems to have taken van Warmerdam off-guard, too. Apart from one inspired punch line to the rationale behind a particular institution's involvement in the conspiracy, the filmmaker apparently ran out of ideas by the time he gets to the story he's actually telling.

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