The Surprise is presented in the Dutch language with English subtitles but do not let that discourage you from watching this gem of a film. I didn’t, and I could not have been happier with my decision. With that out of the way, let me share with you my take on this movie.

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The Surprise Fact Sheet

Philippine release date: May 11, 2016

Director: Mike van Diem
Screenplay: Mike van Diem and Karen van Holst Pellekaan
Stars: Jeroen van Koningsbrugge, Georgina Verbaan, Henry Goodman
Genre: Romance, Action, Comedy
SYNOPSIS
An eccentric multimillionaire signs an agreement to have his life ended. While selecting his coffin he meets a young woman who has signed up for the same arrangement. Trouble ensues when the couple falls in love and wishes to get out of the contract.

MTRCB Rating: PG (Parental Guidance)
Running Time: 1 hour and 42 minutes

Released by: Solar Pictures

The Surprise Movie

Originally titled “De Surprise”, The Surprise is a romantic comedy with a fiendish twist and that, not so surprisingly is where all the fun is coming from. We have here an aristocrat rendered emotionless by the early loss of his father who decided to give everything up after the death of his mother. He was ready for his death and was actually looking for it. He found his option through a company that assists its customers obtain their death wish on themselves . Faced with several options including the most popular option which is to die accompanied by a loved one and the unusual option of “death by surprise”, he chose to latter. He will die without knowing how or when, only armed with the knowledge that it will come, sooner or later.

The twist comes when he started changing his mind about his planned death when he met a woman who supposedly had the same plan on her own life. Before he realized it, death is no longer a priority, He actually didn’t want to meet his surprise anymore and thus the fun in the succeeding twists and turns continued.

My Say

I’ll give you this, one does not need to reach the reveal portion of main character’s surprise to know the main twist. You just have to look at the movie poster and contemplate a little on its tagline “Til death do us part …Love hurts. Sometimes it kills too. Love can be murder” and you’ll know the answer but that will not convince you to stop watching. In fact, you would like to see how everything turns out in the end and satisfy your curiosity.

I am amazed at how the actors fitted perfectly in their respective roles. It didn’t bother me a bit that I was watching a movie with no acknowledged stars, at least from our side of the world. I did some reading though about the main stars and the director after I watched the film and they are accomplished in their own rights.

The setting was marvelous and everything was on point. The only thing that left me thinking for a while was why the antagonists represented by the four brothers had to be obviously of different ethnicity. Other than that, I was good and can honestly say that The Surprise is worth the time and money for watching it. Moviegoers should really be watching quality movies like this. Check out my son’s blog for his review.

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