Movies | Top 10 best movies from the Netherlands

Dutch movies and movies from abroad

Everyone loves to go to the movies, especially for the big releases, “kaskraker” so we say in dutch. But also blockbusters, tent pole movies, low-budget movies, film house movies, and arthouse movies attract a large audience. In the Netherlands, we like all kinds of movies, Dutch movies as well as foreign movies. Foreign movies are shown with subtitles. Children’s movies are, till a certain age, dubbed. For the older ones, original foreign movies are played with subtitles.

Where to see a movie in the Netherlands

Cinemas and movie theaters can be found in large and smaller cities. In villages, you will often find a clubhouse or community center where you can watch a movie.

Where do you prefer to look at movies? In a cinema on a big screen with fantastic Dolby sound or at home on your TV via a streaming service such as Netflix, Video land, HBS, or Disneyland. Or do you like to look at movies on your laptop, tablet, or mobile? But maybe you watch movies through all systems, it just depends on where and who you are with.

Movie theaters and cinema agenda

In this section, you will find the entire cinema agenda with an up-to-date overview per location, cinema, film, date and time, and reservation possibilities in the Netherlands
➔ Cinema agenda of Nederland

➔ Pathé, movie agenda
Sign in and get your ticket. Pathé cinemas are in all Dutch cities but the one you don’t want to miss is the Royal Theater Tuschinski in Amsterdam. The authoritative British magazine Time Out has named Pathé Tuschinski the most beautiful cinema in the world.

Expats Night. Every third Thursday of the month Pathé shows a Dutch or foreign movie with English subtitles. As an expat you can join an expat group and get in touch with other expats and movie lovers. Join the meetup page. Afterward, everybody is welcome to have a drink, catch up and chat about the movie in our Pathé Café. We Get your tickets @ ➔ https://www.pathe.nl/expatnight

➔ Kinepolis cinema
Kinepolis cinema can be found in many Dutch cities and this cinema shows a variety of movies. Kinepolis a modern cinema with large and small halls with spacious seats, large screens, and great sound. Some Kinepolis cinemas have the new spectacular Dolby Atmos sound system. Register on the website and order tickets online or install the app and arrange your ticket.

➔ Movie meter | Movie agenda
On the website of Moviemeter, you will find a complete overview of all cinemas in the Netherlands. Both the large cinemas such as Pathé and Kinepolis are listed here, as well the smaller film houses. Moviemeter has an extensive up-to-date website. Open a link to a cinema and you will find the address including Google Maps, an overview of the films that are playing, and the possibility to order a ticket online.

Golden Calf – Dutch Grand Award for movies, actors, and moviemakers

Since the first edition of the Netherlands Film Festival in 1981, the Golden Calf, the Grand Prize of Dutch Film, has been awarded annually to the best Dutch filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, and actors. A large group of colleagues selects the winners. The nominations and winners of the Golden Calves for feature films and feature-length documentaries are determined according to the Academy model. A large group of colleagues selects the winners. In addition, there is a Golden Calf Audience Award. There are awards for multiple categories. The awards will be presented at the beginning of October in Utrecht during the Golden Calf Gala.

Over the years, quite a few good Dutch films have been made in the Netherlands. These films were not always made with famous actors and usually, there was not a huge budget available. Well-known Dutch film directors with blockbusters to their names include Dick Maas, Martin Koolhoven, Paul Verhoeven, and Alex van Warmerdam. Several of these films made by these directors have been nominated for an Oscar. Given the Dutch film history and the diversity of genres, it is almost impossible to compile the top 10 best and most successful Dutch films but we will give it a try. Several Dutch movies with English subtitles can be found on Netflix.

Top best Dutch Movies – Dutch movies and WW2

Since the early 1960s, dozens of feature films have been made about the Second World War. Movies such as Prince of Orange, Pastorale 1943, The Attack, The Girl with the Red Hair, Winter War, and Black Book. These films are often based on a literary source and tell the story of the war. Most of these Dutch films have never been translated into English and therefore there are no English subtitles available.

De Aanslag | The Assault | 1987

Director: Fons Rademaker
Actors: Derek de Lint, Marc van Uchelen, John Kraaijkamp en Monick van de Ven

The story is set in WW2 during the starvation winter of 1945. The Germans are still in power. There is resistance, there are attacks and there are traitors. Fake Ploeg, a collaborative police inspector, notorious for his brutality, is cycling home through the suburbs of Haarlem during curfew. Suddenly, through the winter evening, six sharp bangs are heard. Ploeg lies dead on the sidewalk in front of a row of four houses, one of which is occupied by the Steenwijk family. The terrible consequences of this event will haunt the then twelve-year-old Anton Steenwijk for the rest of his life. This film is a winner of a Golden Globe and an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
The film is dated but the subject remains current.
➔ The Assault | Book. The screenplay of the film is based on the book The Assault by Harry Mulisch.
➔ De Aanslag | The Assault | No subtitles available

Zwartboek | Black Book | 2006

Director Paul Verhoeven
Actors: Clarice van Houten and Sebastian Koch

A film that is both amazing and terrifying and one that you will remember for a long time! This film gives an insight into the other side of the Second World War. Not just about the resistance heroes but also the people who were on the ‘wrong’ side and also about German soldiers who duty under the penalty of death. Heroism and fear go hand in hand in this film! Definitely worth a look!
➔ The movie Black Book has English subtitles.

In addition to war films, many other film genres have been made in the Netherlands, including action, adventure, family, gangster, detective, romance, love, sports, drama, humor, thrillers, politics, fantasy, discrimination, climate, horror, documentaries, and so on.

De hel van ’63 | The hell of 1963 | 2009

This film is about the most favorite skating tour, the Elfstedentocht of 1963. The Elfstedentocht is an almost 200-kilometer-long trip on natural ice along eleven cities in Friesland. The winter of 1963 was very cold. January 18, the day of the Elfstedentocht, was 18 degrees below zero, and the weather conditions were extremely bad. This tour has gone down in history as the toughest Elfstedentocht ever. In the early morning 10,000 skaters left, of which only 69 men received the coveted Elfstedentocht cross. Not a single woman made it to the finish in Leeuwarden. One woman made it to the hamlet near Franeker. The script of this film was written on the performance of Reinier Paping, who won the Elfstedentocht in 1963. To broaden the story, the issues surrounding the Elfstedentocht were also discussed, such as the pressure that the media put on the committee. The story focuses on four tour drivers of the Twelfth Eleven Cities Tour.

If you like skating on nature’s ice you definitely love this movie. The movie “De Hel van 1963” is spoken in Dutch with English subtitles.
➔ You can find the Dutch movie “De Hel van 1963” on Netflix.

Sonny Boy 2011 | A compelling movie based on a true love story

This movie is set in the period 1921 to 1944 and is a beautiful drama about the turbulent relationship between the Surinamese-Dutch couple Waldemar Nods and Rika van der Lans. The film starts in the early ’20s in Suriname but is largely set in the Netherlands. Until 1954 Suriname was a colony of the Netherlands. This dramatic movie is an adaptation of the bestseller book Sonny Boy written by the Dutch writer Annejet van der Zijl, based on a true story about interracial love during World War II. The film starts with a glimpse of the life of the young Waldemar. As a young adult, Waldemar leaves for the Netherlands to study. Once he arrived in the Netherlands he attracted a lot of attention due to his dark skin color and he was discriminated. Waldemar becomes a boarder by renting a room from Rika in The Hague, an elderly divorced woman with 4 children. The movie Sonny Boy is to be seen on Netflix, spoken in Dutch, and has English subtitles.

Turks Fruit | Turkish Delight | 1973

Director Paul Verhoeven
Actors: Rutger Hauer and Moniek van der Ven

This touching love story is based on the bestseller of the same name by Jan Wolkers. The main character, young sculptor Erik, has a turbulent love life until he meets his great love, Olga. They marry against the wishes of Olga’s wealthy parents. Totally in love, they don’t mind all the opposition and experience a fantastic, romantic summer.
➔ Turkish Delight is spoken in Dutch and has English subtitles.

New Kids Turbo | 2010

Director Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil
Actors: Huub Smit, Tim Haars, Wesley van Gaalen, Steffen Haars, Flip van der Kuil, and Nicole van Nierop

The movie New Kids Turbo is full of humor and silly jokes. The story is about 5 antisocial young men from Brabant who get into trouble with the government. The protagonists end up in bizarre situations, which they deal with in their antisocial way. Shortage of money, refusal to pay taxes, and problems with the police and the tax authorities are common threads throughout the story. The setting is in a fictitious South Brabant town called Maaskantje.
➔ New Kids Turbo is spoken in Dutch and has English subtitles