The Dutchman (2025) Movie Review: A High-Concept Reimagining of a Classic Play That Struggles to Balance Stage and Screen

To approach Amiri Baraka’s 1964 play Dutchman is to step into a minefield of racial tension, sexual politics, and existential dread. It is a foundational piece of the Black Arts Movement, known for its claustrophobic subway setting and its brutal, uncompromising ending. In his directorial debut, Andre Gaines takes on the formidable task of modernizing this classic for a 2025 audience. Produced by Cinemation Studios and Washington Square Films, the film made its high-profile premiere at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival before being acquired by Rogue Pictures and Inaugural Entertainment for a theatrical release on January 9, 2026.

This iteration of The Dutchman stars Andre Holland as Clay, a successful Black businessman who is trying to hold his life together. We first meet him not on a train, but in the sterile environment of a therapy office alongside his wife, Kaya, played by Zazie Beetz. The plot takes a sharp turn into the surreal when a mysterious stranger begins to infiltrate Clay's reality outside of these sessions. The core of the original play remains: Clay encounters Lula (Kate Mara), a seductive and increasingly sinister white woman on a New York subway. As the night progresses, their encounter becomes a psychological battlefield where Clay’s identity, his soul, and his very survival are put to the test. By adding layers of domestic drama and a framing device involving a cryptic therapist, Gaines attempts to turn a legendary piece of theater into a contemporary thriller about the fractured Black psyche in America.

Story and Screenplay: When Dream Logic Meets Modern Psychology

The narrative quality of The Dutchman is a study in ambition versus cohesion. Writers Andre Gaines and Qasim Basir have taken Baraka’s lean, visceral script and expanded it into an 88-minute feature that tries to be both a faithful adaptation and a radical reimagining. The structure is built on a series of nested realities. By introducing the character of Kaya and the therapy sessions, the film provides a "real world" anchor that the original play intentionally lacked. This creates an interesting tension: we see the version of Clay that he presents to society and his wife, which makes his eventual unraveling on the subway feel more like a catastrophic psychological break.

However, the pacing and rhythm of the script are where the cracks begin to show. The original play was a fever dream that moved with a relentless, terrifying speed toward an inevitable conclusion. This version slows things down, frequently interrupting the subway encounter with the therapy frame. While these additions provide context for Clay’s "troubled" nature, they often sap the train scenes of their suffocating momentum. The originality of the themes is clear: Gaines is interested in how the pressures of modern Black success can lead to a kind of spiritual fragmentation. But by leaning so heavily into dream logic—where the author seemingly appears as various background characters to monitor Clay—the story begins to feel cluttered. The script’s primary weakness is its attempt to find hope in a narrative that Baraka designed to be hopeless. By aiming for a more optimistic or at least more "enlightened" resolution, the film risks softening the very edges that made the story a masterpiece of social commentary in the first place.

Acting and Characters: Powerhouse Leads in a Conceptual Maze

If The Dutchman manages to stay on the tracks, it is largely due to the immense talent of its leads. Andre Holland continues his streak of nuanced, deeply intelligent performances. As Clay, he is tasked with a difficult balancing act: he must be the composed businessman, the struggling husband, and finally, the raw, exposed nerve that the subway encounter demands. Holland brings a complexity to the role that almost compensates for the more baffling moments of the script. His reactions to the surreal events unfolding around him are grounded in a palpable sense of exhaustion and fear, making Clay the only truly human element in a world that feels increasingly artificial.

Kate Mara takes on the role of Lula, a character who has been played by icons like Shirley Knight in the 1966 film adaptation. Mara’s Lula is less of a collection of red flags and more of a subtle predator, which initially makes it more believable that Clay would engage with her. However, the script asks Mara to play Lula more as a concept or a "mystic" figure than a flesh-and-blood person. After the first thirty minutes, the performance feels unmistakably "faked," not because of Mara’s lack of skill, but because the role itself is so heavily burdened by symbolic weight. Zazie Beetz and Stephen McKinley Henderson provide solid support, but their characters feel like footnotes to the central duel between Clay and Lula. The chemistry between the leads is intense, but it is a chemistry of antagonism and manipulation rather than connection, which serves the story’s dark themes even as it makes the film difficult to watch.

Direction and Technical Aspects: Stage Ambition on a Subway Car

Andre Gaines’ vision for the film is one of high-minded artistic endeavor. His style is heavily influenced by the theater, which is both a blessing and a curse for a motion picture. On one hand, the direction captures the dreamlike, upsetting quality of the subway car perfectly. The cinematography uses reflections and the sterile, flickering lights of the train to create an atmosphere of purgatory. The visual composition often places Clay in positions where he is boxed in by the architecture of the city, emphasizing his lack of true agency despite his professional success.

On the other hand, the visual storytelling sometimes feels like it is trying too hard to prove its own depth. The editing, which jumps between the therapy office, the subway, and the strange "author" interventions, creates a fragmented experience that can be more confusing than enlightening. The production design of the subway is excellent, recreating a classic New York grit that feels timeless and oppressive. Yet, the film’s insistence on adding more "dream logic" layers often makes the production feel like a high-end theater school project. It is a visually polished work, but the director’s moxie sometimes outpaces the actual cinematic execution. Gaines has a clear vision for where he wants to take the story, but the original Baraka play is a powerful force that often feels like it is fighting back against these new directorial choices.

Trailer The Dutchman (2025)

Music and Atmosphere: A Surreal Descent into the Subconscious

The atmosphere of The Dutchman is its most successful element. From the opening frames, there is a sense of profound unease. The mood is one of "highfalutin" intellectualism mixed with a raw, guttural fear. The film excels at creating a world that feels just slightly off-center, where the rules of social interaction are being rewritten in real-time. This is not a film about a literal subway ride; it is a film about the internal landscape of a man who is being forced to confront the lies he tells himself to survive in a white-dominated society.

The score and sound design work together to enhance this surreal experience. The ambient noise of the train—the screeching of brakes, the distant hum of the city, the silence of the other "passengers"—is used to create a soundscape that is both immersive and alienating. Audio cues are often used to bridge the gap between the therapy sessions and the subway, suggesting that the two worlds are far more connected than they appear. While the music occasionally leans too heavily into the dramatic, it generally succeeds in heightening the stakes of the dialogue-heavy scenes. The audio-visual experience of the film is one of a controlled descent into a mess of subconscious fears, successfully capturing the "dreamlike" quality that Baraka intended, even if it adds too many modern flourishes.

Strengths and Weaknesses

What works well:

• Andre Holland’s Performance: His ability to portray Clay’s internal fracture is the film’s greatest asset, providing a necessary emotional core to a conceptual story.
• Thematic Ambition: The film isn't afraid to tackle massive questions about racial identity, social performance, and psychological trauma in a way that feels modern.
• Cinematography and Lighting: The visual treatment of the subway car is atmospheric and evocative, perfectly capturing a sense of urban purgatory.
• The Cast: Assembling Holland, Mara, Beetz, and Henderson ensures that even the most difficult scenes are grounded by high-caliber acting.
• Technical Polish: For a directorial debut, the film looks and sounds like a professional, high-end production.

What doesn't work:

• Narrative Clutter: The addition of the therapy frame and "dream logic" interventions makes the story feel messy and less impactful than the lean original play.
• Pacing Issues: The frequent jumps between different "realities" interrupt the tension of the central subway encounter.
• Conceptual Characterization: Kate Mara is forced to play Lula as a symbol rather than a human, making her performance feel increasingly artificial.
• Softening the Blow: By attempting to find hope and enlightenment in the ending, the film loses the sharp, devastating social critique of the source material.
• Academic Tone: At times, the film feels more like an intellectual exercise than a visceral emotional experience, which may distance casual viewers.

Final Verdict: A Bold but Uneven Dialogue Between Generations

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Dutchman (2025) is a film that demands to be discussed even as it struggles to be fully enjoyed. It is a "well-intentioned" and bold attempt to revitalize a classic for the modern age, but it often gets lost in its own stylistic flourishes. While Andre Gaines deserves an "A" for the moxie required to adapt such a difficult piece of theater, the final product feels like a bit of a mess where the original Baraka play is constantly wrestling with the director’s new vision. It is a work of undeniable ambition that proves Andre Holland is one of the best actors of his generation, even if the material around him doesn't always live up to his talent.

Who should watch it? This is essential viewing for fans of Andre Holland and those interested in how classic theater can be adapted for the screen. It will also appeal to viewers who enjoy surreal, experimental dramas that prioritize themes and symbols over a straightforward plot.

Who might not enjoy it? Purists who hold Amiri Baraka’s original play in high regard may find the changes to the structure and tone frustrating. Additionally, those looking for a traditional thriller with a logical, linear narrative will likely be underwhelmed by the film’s reliance on dream logic and its academic atmosphere.

Final Thoughts and Recommendation: I recommend The Dutchman as a compelling technical exercise and a showcase for great acting. It is a fascinating, if flawed, exploration of the Black experience in 2025. While it may not hit with the same visceral force as the 1960s original, it is a conversation worth having. Catch it on the big screen to fully appreciate the atmospheric cinematography, but go in expecting a puzzle rather than a punch.