What is it with films from Flanders that they seemingly MUST feature either farmers or marginal people in order to be successful? Prior to 1995 it seems like movies from here only revolved on farmer families battling against poverty and various other types of misery, whereas after 1995 the farmers were replaced by marginal people, but they were still battling against poverty and various other types of misery. Our most famous cinematic export product, the Oscar-nominated "Rundskop" (aka "Bullhead") even features a combination of both! Marginal farmers, hooray! But the term marginal is far too light to describe the lead characters in "The Ardennes", though. They're the equivalent of trailer trash! "The Ardennes" almost feels untouchable here in Flanders, Belgium. You're almost not allowed to say something negative about it. Ever since the release in 2015 - and even before already - this film has been incredibly popular and benefiting from a tremendous media buzz. Everybody loves it, audiences as well as critics, and I honestly wonder why it's so well-received and successful. Admittedly it's a competent film and much better than the overrated "Rundskop" or the pretentious but substantially void "De Helaasheid der Dingen" (aka "The Misfortunates"), but "The Ardennes" nevertheless remains a simplistic and clichéd tale with predictable twists and protagonists you can't possibly sympathize with. Especially the first half feels long, tedious and overly familiar. Fans of the film will undoubtedly call it a harrowing and confronting portrait of a suffering family in the lower middle class of Belgian society, but the simple truth is that it's a form of 'disaster tourism'. You're looking at trailer trash people and you're glad you're not like them. These people eat Flemish stew on Christmas Eve, listen to loud 90s house music in their ugly car, behave and talk like racists and participate in miserable drug-rehabilitation group sessions. There aren't any underlying messages or lessons to be drawn. Personally I'm 100% fine with that, but then please stop pretending it's a relevant film that shows how difficult it is to re-integrate into society after a prison sentence or how to get your life back on track after a severe drug addiction. "The Ardennes" doesn't do that, and I don't think writers Robin Pront and Jeroen Perceval ever intended their script to become a social requiem. In fact, the story can be described best as: the trailer trash version of Cain and Abel. Two brothers, jealousy and uncontrollable anger resulting in violence. Please don't get me wrong; "The Ardennes" honestly isn't a bad film, but it simply never lives up to the praise and compliments it is receiving. That's hardly the film's own fault. The second half, primarily set in the titular Ardennes, is more exciting and introduces a few fantastically eccentric supportive characters, like this hideous drag queen Joyce (Sam Louwyck) and the psychotic ex-con Stef (Jan Bijvoet). I swear, those two deserve a spin-off film of their own! The climax isn't too difficult to foretell, especially if you're familiar with mainstream thrillers, but it still comes as a minor shock even if you know what is going to happen. Lead actor Kevin Janssens deserves extra respect for the performance he gives. I read that the role was originally reserved for Matthias Schoenaerts (pretty much the only Flemish actor to have success in Hollywood). Taking over from him surely couldn't have been an easy task, but Janssens truly gives away a stellar performance. I didn't care much for him as an actor before, but he underwent a phenomenal metamorphosis here. The same can be said for Robin Pront. The film was supposed to be directed by Michael Roskam ("Bullhead") at first, but eventually Pront directed the scenario that he co-wrote himself. Kudos to him, because in his debut feature he certainly demonstrations copious amounts of talent, style, vision and surefootedness. Oh, and one last thing: I love the soundtrack! I don't care that it gets linked to criminals, drug-abusers and lowlifes; - Belgian house/dance music from the 1990s is awesome. Search for songs like "The House of House", "The First Rebirth" and "Rigor Mortis/ Flesh & Bones" on YouTube and concur with me!

A break in goes bad and Kenny (Kevin Jassens) gets left behind and takes the rap as his girlfriend Sylvie (Veerle Baetens) and brother Dave (Jeroen Perceval, co-writer) get away. Four years later Kenny gets out of prison to find things have changed. Dave works at a car wash and Sylvie is a cocktail waitress in group. What Kenny does not know and no one will tell him, is that his former girlfriend is now the girlfriend of his brother Dave.Kenny still lives by his emotions and drags the unwilling Dave into things, as Dave has trouble drawing the line with his brother.This is a Belgian crime/drama production with English subtitles. The film utilized the slow scenes to build character and to show us how Dave and Sylvie have moved on. Kenny suspects Sylvie is seeing someone else and believes it to be her boss, someone he grew up with as a child. The ending had a twist which I didn't see coming. This is a low budget film that lacks formula writing. Kudos.Guide: F-word, sex, nudity (Veerle Baetens)

Flemish. Kenny, a social misfit, is getting out of a four year stint in the slammer. he has left behind his girl friend Sylvie and his younger brother, dave. dave and Sylvie fell in love while Kenny was away and she is pregnant with dave's baby. *SPOILER ALERT* anyone who has ever been to a movie will know that things like this don't usually turn out so well. Kenny has a hard time on the sea of life and before long kills the guy he thinks was hitting on Sylvie. he gets dave to help him get rid of the body and things really get sticky. there are twists and turns galore. the lead, kevin jannsens, is very intense but his brother, jeroen Perceval holds his own. it's a very "b" movie, but once it gets going it doesn't stop to take a breath until the end. so the clichés are easily forgiven, in my book. go along for the ride. I really don't think you'll be disappointed.

This film reminds me why I used to hate Flemish films so much. The last couple of years we had some good ones thanks to Felix Van Groeningen and others. Those movies were either in West-Flemish or East-Flemish and had very likable characters and great stories. D'Ardennen on the other hand is in sucky Antwerps and is one of those stories with miserable low-life characters. Kevin Janssens (he's annoying as hell), Veerle Baetens and Jeroen Perceval play these 'Johnny and Marina' kinda types which I loathe so it's almost impossible to care for them - let alone stand them. The titular 'Ardennes' are only featured almost an hour into the flick and it only lasts 93 minutes (incl credits). I can't recommend this film at all. I was thinking it would be a cool Flemish take on the cabin horror movies maybe, but it's nothing of the sort. Just skip this crap and watch Belgica, that one was cool and fun!