"Shall we stay here forever?"
Boys (originally Jongens in its original Dutch) is a 2014 Dutch coming of age drama directed by Mischa Kamp and starring Gijs Blom and Ko Zandvliet. It depicts the maturation and self-discovery of gifted young athlete Sieger as he falls for his quirky, charming relay partner Marc.
Originally released on Dutch television, the film was so critically and commercially successful it moved to Dutch theaters, and eventually ran in the United States, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Poland, France, and Germany, as well as several film festivals.
Boys provides examples of...
- Beach Kiss: Marc and Sieger have a few of these after sneaking out at night together on the training trip.
- Big Brother Instinct: Marc is shown to be kind and protective towards his little sister Neeltje.
- Class Trip: Technically, it's a training trip for the athletics team.
- Closet Key: Marc is Sieger's.
- Coming-Out Story
- First Kiss: Marc and Sieger have one after going out swimming together, initially with the other two members of the relay team. They kiss after tension builds when left alone for awhile, in an overhead shot so beautiful it was used for the movie poster.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Eddy and Sieger could be seen as this. Eddy is reckless, carefree, and often disrespectful, while Sieger is dutiful, disciplined, reserved, and polite.
- Good Parents: Marc's parents are open-minded, supportive, and generally fun; Marc clearly loves them a lot.
- Theo tries his to keep his children both safe and happy, despite the sad circumstances of his wife's death. He even allows Eddy to have a motorcycle despite his own inhibitions because he knows it will bring him joy.
- Happily Ever After: The end of the film has Marc and Sieger riding off on Eddy's motorcycle together.
- Held Gaze: Because so much of their communication and sexual tension is silent, Marc and Sieger get several of these.
- Before and after their First Kiss. The entire scene is shown overhead, so they appear in almost complete symmetry as they watch each other.
- At the fair, in the awkward encounter where Sieger introduces Marc to his "girlfriend" Jessica.
- Hippie Parents: Though we only get a brief glimpse of Marc's mom and dad, Marc's parents are most likely this. The fact that they got married after both children were born so that their offspring could enjoy the wedding should suffice as evidence.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Eddy. He lashes out at his father, but he's shown to genuinely care for his family on several occasions.
- Lovable Jock: Sieger, Marc, and Stef.
- Missing Mom: Sieger and Eddy's mother died in recent memory before the events of the film, implied to be as a result of a motorbike-related accident.
- Open-Minded Parent: Marc's parents seem comfortable with their son's homosexuality.
- Given what we know about Theo, in all likelihood, he's one, too.
- Queer Romance
- Second-Act Breakup: After the initial conflict over Sieger pretending to be with Jessica, Marc officially breaks up with Sieger after being stood up, then shoved and told to leave after running into one another. Everything gets resolved, of course.
- Serenade Your Lover: Indirectly. Marc sings "You Are My Sunshine" at the campfire, holding Sieger's gaze the entire time.
- Straight Gay: Sieger and Marc.
- Transparent Closet:Sieger: [following his and Marc's first kiss] I'm not gay.Marc: Of course you're not.
- Troubled, but Cute: Eddy. Angsty about his mother's death, he's a reckless motorcyclist with a penchant for leather and a lot of female admirers.
- Uptight Loves Wild: Sieger is quiet and reserved, whereas Marc is a quirky, happy-go-lucky free spirit.
- This is exemplified in the way they train for running. Sieger has a disciplined regime involving typical training exercises, and remains focused while he runs, while Marc does headstands and doesn't think of anything in particular during a race.
