There are times when you watch a film and you have to take a moment to digest what you just consumed. You have to go back to parts of your memory and recall to connect the dots and tie the loose ends together and make certain what you just experienced was real. The film The Dutchman, directed by Andre Gaines and written by Qasim Basir is one of the most unique and intriguing films to come out of SXSW this year. I have not yet seen nor experienced the source material the film is based on, which is Amiri Baraka’s 1964 Obie Award-winning play of the same name. But this powerful story certainly resonated with me and I feel compelled to want to learn more about Baraka’s version of The Dutchman.
Filmmaker Andre Gaines, known for his documentary The One and Only Dick Gregory, brings us The Dutchman, a gripping psychological thriller that reimagines Baraka’s compelling story. Qasim Basir, also a director known for his film To Live and Die and Live, co-wrote the screenplay along with Gaines. Basir knows how to write deeply flawed characters who experience these emotional roller coasters and have complex relationships.
Andre Holland and Zazie Beetz reunite after working together in High Flying Bird.
In this story our complex relationship is in the form of Clay (Andre Holland), a successful Black businessman and his wife Kaya (Zazie Beetz). The two are hanging by a thread to save their marriage as they meet with their therapist Dr. Amiri (Stephen McKinley Henderson). Clay is resentful of Kaya because she committed infidelity in their marriage. Dr. Amiri senses Clay’s animosity and the grudge he’s still holding against his wife long after the act was committed. Clearly, the healing has not begun, and this becomes the catalyst for a series of events of what is about to manifest in Clay’s life during one fateful night on a subway train ride.
Clay meets a white woman who immediately beguiles him, but not in a way where he’s receptive to her seduction. More in a way that a stranger lures an innocent child. As she flirts with him, she immediately is playing mind games with him as well, gaslighting him at every turn and using reverse psychology on him. It’s pretty clear that she’s outwitting him, but unfortunately he doesn’t quite see it. He thinks he can outsmart her, but he’s too weak. He’s lost his sense of identity at this point, too wrapped up in his own sorrows about his past, about his wife’s infidelity, and likely about his own sense of manhood and its lack thereof. This way, she has him set in her traps and easily reels him in.
The Dutchman is an incredible examination of race, power, and identity with these characters and how all of these dynamics come into play. Lula weaponizes her white womanness to trap Clay, Clay is racially profiled even when wearing his business suit, and the appearance of an interracial couple and its taboos are still pervasive. Lula holds an apple and cuts into it with a knife in the subway when she meets and connects with Clay. Upon further reading about Amiri Baraka’s play, I learned the apple is supposed to represent the biblical version of Eve. However, I perceived the apple to draw parallels to the Evil Queen from the animated Disney film Snow White. After seeing the film in its entirety, you’ll understand why.
Holland, as always, just doesn’t miss. There’s a scene where he’s monologuing for five minutes, giving this intoxicating impassioned speech that will leave you breathless. He’s always a force to watch on screen, which is why I’m always seated for an Andre Holland film. It’s pretty obvious that I am biased here, but he does deliver an incredible performance in this movie. Kate Mara is brilliant as Lula and she commanded every scene she was in. Mara and Holland’s scenes together were electric and their chemistry was palpable.
Aldis Hodge makes an appearance in this film as Warren, a mutual friend of Clay’s who is also running for public office. He’s holding a fundraiser event for his campaign at a party. Hodge delivers the best line in the movie when Lula shows up at the party (that has all Black attendees, by the way) and Warren says, “She is murdering the vibe.” I cackled so loud at that line.
The cat and mouse game between Clay and Lula intensifies throughout this story and the journey will take you through some extremes. The Dutchman is one of those films that after the screening is over, you will head over to a coffee shop with some friends or go to a late night bar and have a long conversation unpacking what you just experienced. There are some dense themes around white supremacy, weaponizing sexual assault, and the literal vs the surreal. One thing is for certain: you will stay engaged with this narrative from beginning to end.
The Dutchman made its premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film and TV Festival.
