Holland (2025): What happened to Dave? Explained
Directed by Mimi Cave, Holland is a psychological thriller film which premiered on Prime Video on March 27, 2025. Set in the year 2000 in the idyllic town of Holland, Michigan, the film stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew MacFayden and Gael García Bernal in the roles of a school teacher named, Nancy Vandergroot; her optometrist husband, Fred Vandergroot; and her colleague, Dave Delgado, respectively.
Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for Holland. Reader's discretion is advised.
After the TV drops on Dave's head during his tussle with Nancy in the motel, he appears seriously injured. Nancy intends to calls the ambulance, but panicks when she does not find her son, Harry, there.
Nancy finds Harry with Fred, who menacingly tells his wife that he will make everything alright again and even take care of Dave's body. The family of three get in the car and Fred begins driving. On the way, Nancy changes her mind and distracts Fred as she tells their son to run.
Then, she kills Fred with a wooden sandal and rushes back to the motel only to find Dave missing. Since Dave had previously shown signs of a violent past and had always wanted to leave that town, it is quite likely that he took off.
Dave notably does not show up in the film after that which leads viewers to wonder if he really made it out alive after that serious injury from the TV falling over his head. The ambiguous ending of Holland leaves the fate of the lead characters open for interpretation for the viewers.
Also read: 7 biggest unanswered questions from Holland
Holland: Why did Dave go to the motel to meet Nancy and Harry?
Nancy, Fred, and their son, Harry (played by Jude Hill) live a middle class life, but things go awry when Nancy begins growing doubtful of her husband's weekend trips out of the town. She confides in her colleague Dave her concerns that Fred might be cheating. Dave initially agrees to help her but backs out after a harmless confrontation with a cop.
Later, Nancy manages to convice Dave to continue the investigation on Fred. Together, they raid Fred's office and find an album. Upon further investigation, Dave learns about Fred's secret: the optometrist is a serial killer. In the fight that ensues, Dave ends up stabbing Fred in the gut who then falls into a lake.
Dave assumes that Fred is dead and flees the scene. Meanwhile, Nancy also finds out the truth about her husband. Upon returning to Holland, Dave does not tell that he might have killed Fred. He simply says that he confronted the eye doctor and forced him to leave town.
Although Dave insists that they should leave the town, Nancy suggests that they should wait until Tulip Time to avoid suspicion. This decision backfires as Fred shows up at the festival.
Dave informs Nancy about it and tries to get her to leave with him. However, when Nancy sees the gun Dave has, she finds her son and they leave together. They take shelter in a motel hoping they can avoid the two men.
Eventually, however, Dave finds them and suggests that they call the police to report Fred. Nancy disagrees because she is afraid that it will ruin her son's future. While trying to wrestle the phone out of Dave's hands, she accidentally pushes him over which results in the TV falling on his head.
Holland is available to stream on Prime Video.
