For a Lost Soldier

A tender, bittersweet memory piece that unfolds gently, blending wartime unease with a boy's quiet sexual awakening and lasting heartbreak.

Directed by

Roeland Kerbosch

Genres

Drama, War

Starring

Maarten Smit, Jeroen Krabbé, Andrew Kelley

Overview

In the occupied Netherlands near the end of WWII, a young teenager, Jeroen Boman (Maarten Smit) is sent to the Dutch countryside to avoid the war in Amsterdam. While living with his adopted family, Jeroen meets and becomes friends with a Canadian soldier named Walt Cook, who is stationed at the same town he is staying at. Joroen and Walt spend a lot of time playing around and eventually a romantic relationship develops between them. The boy’s sexual curiosity leads him to have a sexual experience with Walt, an encounter that is shown with some vague detail but without actually showing any nudity, even though sexual intimacy between the two of them is implied. Overall, the movie handles this difficult subject with an elegant style and feeling, without having the adult-child relationship overwhelm the viewer and thus allowing the movie to be seen as just a wartime relationship between two people that marks an important time in a young boy’s life.

How it feels

Melancholic, warm, romantic and earnest. Slow-burning and needs your attention.

About

Coming-of-age, identity, memory, love

Content

Mild violence, sexual content and language. No gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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