With Friends Like These (Dutch: Dagen zonder lief) is a 2007 Belgian comedy drama film directed by Felix van Groeningen, from a screenplay by van Groeningen and Arne Sierens. The film follows a group of lifelong friends whose lives are turned upside down when Black Kelly (Dierickx), one of their friends whom they haven't heard from since they were teenagers, returns to visit her mother after living in New York for several years.
Contents
Cast
Koen De Graeve as Nick
Wine Dierickx as Black Kelly
Pieter Genard as Kurt
An Miller as Blonde Kelly
Jeroen Perceval as Frederic
Tania Van der Sanden as Mother Black Kelly
Charlotte Vandermeersch as Ingrid
Synopsis
The lives of a group of friends get disturbed when Black Kelly (named after her hair color) returns from New York where she works in fashion to visit her mother. Her arrival leads to problems for Frederic when his girlfriend Ingrid, who's away on a volleyball tournament, thinks he's having an affair with Kelly after he invites Kelly to stay with him. The two of them reunite with their schooldays gang which includes Nick. Black Kelly discovers that Patrick committed suicide during her absence and Kurt and Blonde Kelly now live together with their one-year-old child. Tension arises among the group after Black Kelly tells Kurt she never told him she was pregnant with their baby before having an abortion. This provokes the already troubled Kurt to run away. The three friends go on a road-trip to find him.
Production
Filming took place in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium and Auvergne, France.
Release
The film premiered at the 2007 International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film was released in theatres on March 21, 2007 in Belgium.