New Kids Turbo 2010

Set in the small village of Maaskantje in North Brabant, a tight-knit circle of friends — Gerrie, Richard, Rikkert, Robbie and Barrie — watches their lives derail as they all lose their jobs. They convince themselves their troubles stem from the 2008 financial crisis, but the story quietly hints that their own idleness, lack of common sense, and chronic lateness are the real culprits behind their downslide. It’s a portrait of casual irresponsibility that spirals as the characters repeatedly demonstrate poor judgment in everyday moments: [Gerrie] arrives late to work and accidentally drives the forks of his forklift into a pallet of boxed plasma screen televisions; [Richard] brings his old bulldog to the workplace, who proceeds to gnaw on and snap the supervisor’s shovels; and [Rikkert] is dismissed by a bitter, sarcastic garage owner who sounds the alarm about a broken system.

Tensions outside work seep into home life as well. [Gerrie] is expelled from his mother’s house after an attempted purse theft, while [Rikkert] ends his relationship with Manuela, and Barrie’s home, which doubles as an illegal cannabis farm, catches fire. The trio seek refuge at the home shared with [Richard] and [Robbie], and soon the five friends embark on a spree that hinges on someone footing the bill. When refueling [Rikkert]’s Opel Manta, their bank card is rejected, and their plan to rely on [Richard]’s money falters.

A visit to the local employment office reveals a harsher reality: the benefits agency refuses to provide more aid. In a bold, reckless moment, [Richard] climbs over the desk and shoves the official against the wall, shouting, > Give us more money, ‘kut’. The next morning, a letter arrives announcing that their benefits are entirely terminated. Spurred by desperation, the group resolves to stop paying for anything and to raid the town for essentials. They stage a run on the petrol station, carting away two large containers of fuel while the attendant gives chase, and they raid the Lupus supermarket for lager, with [Barrie] acting as a distraction while the rest of the crew decamps. Their outlandish behavior continues as they order a delivery from a Chinese takeaway but refuse to pay when it arrives.

The mounting debt brings a sting of consequences. A debt collector arrives, initially befriended by a local who has Down syndrome — a figure who loudly proclaims “Lorry driver” and mimics a truck horn before slamming the door again. When the collector returns, [Richard] confronts him, insisting they won’t pay a thing, and violence erupts: the collector is punched, and soon the local police chief arrives, receiving a similar fate at the hands of [Richard].

A sympathetic Brabant TV journalist covers the story, casting the group as victims of circumstance, which publicizes their plight and sparks a wave of imitation riots in other towns. In the midst of the crisis, [Gerrie] drags [Barrie] to visit an old friend known as “The Lumberjack,” now a professional kickboxer, Peter Aerts, to borrow a substantial loan. With the money, they gamble at a casino, place everything on a single number, and win against the odds. They celebrate, unaware of the money’s provenance, only to see [Rikkert] lose his Opel Manta to the tow yard after a chase, leaving them with little more than a wheel still attached to the curb.

Government officials decide to quell the unrest by wiping Maaskantje off the map, a plan that goes comically awry when Schijndel is bombed by mistake. The authorities claim a rogue Belgian missile caused the error, insisting there is no war between the Netherlands and Belgium. The escalating tension culminates in a tense return to Maaskantje, where gunfire erupts. The group stumbles upon a field where a farmer has hidden WWII-era weapons and they are invited to pick their own arms. As they sing a controversial anthem, the farmer’s cache leads to a fatal misfire: the weapon fire is traced back to [Gerrie], who unexpectedly shoots [Barrie] in the head, prompting a grim joke from [Richard]: “more weapons per man.”

Maaskantje is evacuated as residents flee, and the five friends reunite with their circle — including Manuela, the takeaway owner, and the recently dismissed local police chief — to resist the advancing troops. The delivery rider from the Chinese restaurant becomes a casualty in the early chaos, while the group and their allies put up stubborn resistance with a mix of bazookas, machine guns, and rifles. In a pivotal moment, the takeaway owner, cornered, is saved only when [Gerrie] delivers a decisive headshot to the pursuing officer behind her, and the cafetaria owner proclaims pride in his son.

As the dust settles, [Gerrie] is captured and the group stands together, a mix of relief and defiance. The five of them, together with [Manuela], the former police chief, and others, are arrested and charged with a long list of offenses. They are sentenced to 240 hours of community service each. While they serve their time, [Peter Aerts] returns as the money lender who triggers one last reckless encounter, and the raid ends with a dramatic fatality as a falling set of speakers and a turntable deck collapses, crushed by the weight of aifiendly staged punishment — a moment that also features DJ Paul Elstak in the closing chaos.

The film closes on a note of uneasy camaraderie: the once-disjointed friends are bound by shared misadventure, now serving their community and reflecting on the consequences of unchecked bravado in a town that watched, wondered, and finally acted.