There's only two things I hate in this world: people who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the Dutch.

The trajectory is totally obvious from the start, and for me that really killed any true impact this could have had. A little misdirection could have gone a long way. The slow turning of the screw is delightfully awful and completely believable, until they indulge in the trope to leave, then come back.

While this is already rarely justifiable in my opinion, it's an even more egregious sin here. When a boundary gets so obviously violated that they've already rejected the politeness and social norms to creep away in the early hours (which is the theme here, no?), only to then return and get convinced to stay another day, loses a lot of credibility with me. The dialogue that follows is strong and a great little display of effective gaslighting, but it absolutely needed to happen in a different context. Even if it was just "we're going to leave" and then the same conversation happened, that would work. But the act of them returning was a little too Cabin In The Woods-y with the family choosing their fate.

Bjorn also not telling Louise about his third act discovery didn't work for me either, nor did their sort of quiet resignation and general meekness in the end. I guess maybe that's the point, but I still think there should have been at least some kind of physical altercation to force them into compliance in the final minutes. As a parent, just sobbing in the back seat of the car and complying with instructions 100% does not compute. I've watched my wife yell at literal children for shoving our toddler down at the park. Watching that happen to your kid, and then to just do basically nothing, does not jive with me at all.

Close, but no cigar.