'The Columnist' Review
NR
Runtime: 1 Hr and 26 Minutes
Production Companies: NL Film & TV
Distributor: Film Movement
Director: Ivo van Aart
Writers: Daan Windhorst
Cast: Katja Herbers, Rein Hofman, Bram van der Kelen, Genio de Groot, Claire Porro
Release Date: May 7, 2021
Virtual cinemas,VoD & Digital
Columnist and author Femke is flooded with anonymous nasty messages and death threats on social media. One day she has enough and decides to take revenge.
If you’re a non-White male working in the field of journalism, chances are that you’ve encountered at least one online troll who has said some absolutely vile words to you. We’ve all had a run-in with an online troll; it’s bound to happen to anyone that has a social media account. Sometimes those words hurt and affect us emotionally to the extent that we seek some form of catharsis. Hell, we fantasize about exacting our revenge on those assholes. That fantasy comes to life in Ivo van Aart’s The Columnist, a suspense-thriller that centers on an author exacting revenge on the online trolls who spewed nasty, hateful comments on her blog and Twitter. This movie may be classified as a suspense-thriller, but as a film critic who uses Reddit to gain traction for my reviews while often facing rude trolls, this film was an accurate revenge fantasy/wet dream of a thriller.
The Columnist prospers from a balanced dark comedic tone that takes glee in the concept of a woman turning the table on the men who wish to silence her. The narrative is rooted in a place of reality where women — in this specific case, Femke — yearn for a change in internet culture where females can have their own opinions without having to face hateful comments for them. As Femke says in the Dutch film’s cold open while promoting her book, “Can we just have different opinions and be nice?” Sadly, we all know the answer to that question.
Ivo van Aart places his audience in the mindset of Femke as she obsesses over the endless negative comments directed towards her. This is done with subtle camera choices, such as closeups on her face as a small ray of light from her laptop or phone shines on her undead eyes while she scrolls through social media platforms. There are also focus shots of her looking at various appliances and supplies she could use as weaponry.
Her motives and intentions are clear to the viewer, but the fun occurs when she confronts her trolls in person vigilante-style, popping up in their homes like the Boogeyman, watching them be the spineless losers that they are prior to murdering them in creative, violent manners. It’s similar to the premise of Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, but the primary difference is that Femke actually kills the men she confronts instead of just blackmailing them.
Katja Herbers is a powerhouse throughout The Columnist. Femke's violent descent into madness is depicted well, mostly due to Herbers’ incredible performance with realistic compulsory mannerisms and eye movements that are never over-the-top. She truly captures the obsessiveness and anxiety of reading hateful comments, especially as a writer. It’s engrossing to watch Herbers take control during confrontational scenes as she absorbs all of the energy and elevates the tension with the twinkling of bloodlust in her eyes. If Promising Young Woman isn’t released this year, consider Herbers as Carey Mulligan’s replacement for Best Actress this because she kills it (literally).
The Dutch film incorporates social commentary focused on the one-way street that is freedom of speech, which women don’t get, through its subplot centered around Femke’s headstrong daughter Anna (Claire Porro). Anna is facing her own conflict with her headmaster who constantly stifles her voice in the school paper. While the message is clear and well-integrated, there comes a point where the subplot and the main plot are clunked together poorly. This is due to the plothole that occurs in order to get to the juxtaposed money-sequence. The lead-up involves a time conflict trope where Femke’s killing addiction makes her fail to prioritize an important event for her daughter, which the film uses to deliver a cool juxtaposition.
The set-up is rushed and abandons a much-needed conversation on the distastefulness of the fucked up Dutch tradition Zwarte Piet/Black Pete, which encourages Europeans to put on blackface. Femke’s open stance on abolishing the tradition is the spark that lights the tasteless, harmful comments thrown at her. There’s even a scene where you see Femke’s neighbor participating in the controversial holiday. However, that talking point goes nowhere, for The Columnist’s main focus is Femke being cyberbullied. It’s a wasted opportunity, especially given how good the writing is.
The Columnist is a quick-paced revenge fantasy dedicated to every woman and every non-White male writer who have to face online trolls that they’d like to eradicate off the face of the earth. Yeah, this movie fucking rocks. I’m gonna need The Columnist and Promising Young Woman to release soon because they would make for an incredible double feature.
