Bonkers

Bonnie is a girl of nine. She lives in a household of three in the Netherlands. Elephants hold an important place in the family. That interest came down from her forebears. One of them worked years ago on a game reserve in Africa. Bonnie sees herself as being like an elephant. Her mother Lis lives with bipolar disorder. Sometimes she does not get out of bed for days. At other times she dances in the street with abandon. The grandmother is the one who holds the household together. But the grandmother is killed in an accident. After that the responsibility falls to Bonnie. She tries to cook and to get her mother to take her medicine. Meanwhile she dodges a social worker called Jorien. Jesse Rinsma and Carice van Houten take the leads in Martin Koolhoven’s Dutch film of 2005.