The Surprise (Dutch: De surprise) is a 2015 Dutch comedy film directed by Mike van Diem.
The story concerns a middle-aged man named Jacob, who, following the death of his wealthy mother, inherits an estate that includes his father's large collection of vintage cars. Jacob, surrounded by wealth, is depressed that he cannot find love and wants to end his miserable life. He then tries to commit suicide in one of the vintage cars, a Jaguar E-Type, by running a hose from the exhaust into the cabin. This does not work and he finally enlists the services of an illegal assisted-suicide firm in ending his life and selects the option of a surprise ending. While awaiting sudden death, he meets and falls in love with a shy lady who is also living a life without love and has contracted for the same service. Jacob now has to cancel his contract but, it is binding.
Contents
Cast
Jeroen van Koningsbrugge as Jacob van Zuylen de With
Georgina Verbaan as Anne de Koning
Jan Decleir as Cornald Muller
Henry Goodman as Mr. Jones
Ankur Bahl as Asif
Naveed Choudhry as Moshin
Oliver Gatz as Halim
Ronny Jhutti as Khuram
Elisabeth Andersen as Mother
Tamar Baruch as Marissa de la Rue
Michiel Blankwaardt as Truckdriver
Pierre Bokma as Security Van Zuylen Foundation
Judith Edixhoven as Assistant De Wijs
Hubert Fermin as De Wijs
Esther von Arx as Juljia Barsukova
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Surprise has an approval rating of 88% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10.