Isabelle

A B-Film release and presentation of the IDTV Film production, in assocation with NCRV, Samsa Film. Created by Frans van Gestel, Anton Smit, Arnold Heslenfeld. Co-producer, Jani Thiltges. Directed by Ben Sombogaart. Script, Marieke van der Pol, in line with the novella by Tessa p Loo.With: Halina Reijn, Tineke Caels, Wim Opbrouck, Edwin p Vries, Monique van p Ven.Beauty is not the only real factor that's skin-deep in "Isabelle," the most recent film from Nederlander vet helmer Ben Sombogaart. Adaptation of the novella by local scribe Tessa p Loo recounts an ugly Belgian woman's revenge on visual appearance by depriving a glamorous Nederlander actress she keeps kept in her basement. Crazy setup is not redeemed by any mental insight, rather playing just like a horror aspirant which includes way too much twaddle. Tepidly received in your area by crix and auds alike, the pic is going to be consigned to cult auds. Using a reliable team that produced huge B.O. hits ("Bride Flight," "Twin Siblings"), Sombogaart here provides a movie sewn together by bad choices. Film writer Marieke van der Pol appear unsure how you can fuse the story's philosophical undercurrents (which explore beauty and ugliness, art and consumption) using its more Medieval genre elements. Stockholm syndrome of actress Isabelle (Halina Reijn, charming but no conventional beauty) is hardly credible, while her captor (Tineke Caels, under lots of makeup) does not suggest ugliness a lot like a Botox treatment experiment gone wrong. Tech package is hit-and-miss, with unnecessarily harsh lighting in glamour shots.Camera (color, widescreen), Piotr Kukla editor, Herman P. Koets music, Jeannot Sanavia production designer, Michel p Graaf costume designer, Peggy Wurth. Examined at Camera 1, Utrecht, Netherlands, Sept. 27, 2011. (In Netherlands Film Festival -- competing.) Running time: 97 MIN. Contact Boyd van Hoeij at news@variety.com