A hot summer day, a crack in the asphalt and an unexpected encounter.
‘Bianca, your father and Cruz want to do things differently.‘
‘Skip the intro, Mom.‘
‘They think you’re out of control.‘
‘I’m… I’m not out of control.‘
One morning at the breakfast table, her mother tells her that her father and his new girlfriend Cruz think it would be more practical if she visited them every other weekend instead of every weekend. For 13-year-old Bianca, this is not the first time she has felt misunderstood — and, above all, unseen — by her family. Her parents have been separated for some time, and while her mother thinks she needs a ‘manual,‘ she pays much more attention to Bianca’s nine-year-old brother Alan, who has a heart condition. Bianca, however, is just looking for stability and shelter – the only place she feels truly comfortable and protected is her own little secret hideaway in an area between her garden and the neighbors’.
But then something changes on the day after the conversation at the breakfast table: suddenly, Bianca’s favorite actress, Billie King, is sitting in her living room! Together with her father, Bianca has watched the famous soap that Billie is best known for every evening and can’t believe she’s meeting her idol.
As the day unfolds, Bianca eventually begins to open up more and more and rediscovers hope long thought lost.
If you paid close attention during the credits or read the program description thoroughly, you may already know that this Dutch-Belgian-German production is based on a book. The film is based on Bart Moeyart’s young adult novel ‘Tegenwoordig heet iedereen Sorry,‘ which was published in 2020 and is also titled ‘Everyone’s Sorry Nowadays‘ in English.
If, after watching the film, you feel like delving deeper into the original story, learning more about the characters, or expecting more extensive content, you will likely be disappointed: the film follows the novel’s plot almost to the letter. Nevertheless, reading the book is still worthwhile — while the film conveys a lot of unspoken messages through its visuals, the book allows us to immerse ourselves in the story through Bianca’s direct, unvarnished thoughts, offering a different perspective on her character through its narrative style.
There are a few minor differences, however — Billie’s soap opera series, for example, which is called ‘At Our Place‘ in the book, is not set in a hair salon as it is in the film, but originally in a bar — but apart from that, the plot is absolutely identical. Even the most visually stunning scenes are not merely cinematic staging, but are more or less accurately depicted in the book.
It is precisely this imaginative expressive power (in the film through images, in the book through words) that both versions of the story share alongside the plot: whenever Bianca feels overwhelmed by a situation or her emotions become too chaotic, reality begins to blur. The film captures her thoughts and feelings with impressive images and music. This shift between reality and fiction allows us to understand different sides of Bianca: the one she shows to the outside world, and what is actually going on inside her. Bianca talks comparatively little, especially in the eyes of her mother. If she has nothing to say, Bianca doesn’t say anything. Billie also thinks Bianca is ‘good at being quiet’ — it’s only through the fictional space created by the film that we can experience the thoughts and feelings that Bianca usually keeps so deep inside.
Billie also represents this combination of reality and fiction in a way. She’s not just the fictional character ‘Ilona‘ anymore; now, her private self is becoming more and more important to Bianca. And yet Bianca also creates a kind of alternative role for herself: in the scene giving the story its title, she introduces herself to Billie as Perdón. According to her, it’s an old name that’s hardly ever used anymore — after all, everyone’s Sorry nowadays.
In general, the film repeatedly deals with apologies, whether through Bianca’s new name, reflexive apologies in conversation, or in the form of a note from the neighbors. Perhaps it also symbolizes the defensive and withdrawn behavior that Bianca has developed, especially towards her mother. This and several other motives that recur throughout the film — such as the crack in the asphalt that quickly turns into a crevice, synchronized swimming, or a bowl full of cherries — allow us to understand Bianca better and better without having to explain much or name any problems.
Above all, the crack in the asphalt is a symbolic expression of so many emotions that Bianca keeps to herself, especially her suppressed anger. Fortunately, the film gives this anger a lot of space — a feeling that is far too rarely explored in such depth among young female characters.
’Everyone’s Sorry Nowadays’ is not a simple, not a conventional film. From the very beginning, we have to enter into Bianca’s world of thoughts and feelings, because that is the basis of the story. This portrayal through various, sometimes absurd details is very imaginative in both the book and the film, but it is also peculiar and sometimes works better, sometimes worse – yet all in all, it is very impressive.
Another bonus is how the mother characters are portrayed: Bianca’s mom is quite a complex character and anything but simple. Even though she shows her love for her kids a lot, sometimes her comments toward Bianca can be very frustrating at times. Yet it’s precisely this layered personality that that kept me thinking about her. And above all, Billie is first and foremost a famous actress and Bianca’s idol — both characters are so much more than the one-dimensional label of ’mother,’ which unfortunately is not always the case.
It’s also very good to see that a queer relationship runs naturally in the background without having to be addressed in any particular way.
The film tells the story of a thirteen-year-old girl who feels like she doesn’t belong in her own family and, above all, feels misunderstood by her mother — and who, at a key moment, regains hope through an empowering encounter. It shows how this makes a potential reconciliation possible again and how important such moments are for children and young people, in which they feel truly seen and valued.
For me, ’Everyone’s Sorry Nowadays’ remains an impressive cinematic experience, the most meticulous novel adaptation I have ever seen, and an enrichment to this year’s Kplus program – and is definitely worth seeing.
