''Come as You Are'' ( es, Hasta la Vista) is a 2011 Belgian

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Geoffrey Enthoven Geoffrey Enthoven (born 6 May 1974) is a Belgian film director, screenwriter and film editor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent in 1999, he achieved several nominations and awards during his career. His first full-l ...

from a screenplay by Pierre De Clercq, based on the real-life experiences of disability rights activist Asta Philpot. It stars Tom Audenaert, Gilles De Schryver, Robrecht Vanden Thoren and

Isabelle de Hertogh Isabelle de Hertogh (born 1972) is a Belgian actress. Debut She was a student at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a hi ...

Plot

The

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

men Lars, Philip and Jozef are somewhere between 20 and 30 years of age and each has a physical disability. Jozef is almost blind and needs to use a magnifier. Philip is

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

. He can only move his head and can use one hand which gives him the strength to control his automated

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

. Lars has an incurable

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

a side effect of which is that he needs a wheelchair as a result of his increasing paralysis. The three are good friends and visit each other frequently. Philip, who is able to control a

computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches. Replacing early punched cards and paper tape technology ...

with a mouthpiece, had a conversation with a man who lost his legs during his last holiday at the Dutch sea-side. That man frequently visits a luxury

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

which is specialized to host disabled men. Philip convinces Lars and Jozef to organize a trip to Spain "as they do not want to die as virgins". Of course, they have to convince their parents but are afraid to tell them the real reason for the trip. That's why they deceive them and tell them that they are only going to visit some wine gardens in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

. As Lars already made a well-organized plan about the trip and found a tour guide who is specialized in "holidays for disabled people" the parents eventually agree. Some days before departure, Lars goes to his doctor for approval to make the trip, but it seems his brain tumor has grown. His doctor advises to cancel his trip. Philip and Jozef initially cancel as well since they do not want to abandon Lars. Lars however insists that the trip should continue, so they decide to leave sneakily. However, the tour operator can't make the trip any more as it was cancelled by the parents, and does not want to jeopardize his professional and private life by ignoring the wishes of the parents. The tour operator takes pity and decides to send Claude, who also owns an accessible bus. They are surprised when Claude seems to be an oversized, unattractive, grouchy woman who does not understand

(as she lives in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

). Philip and Lars dislike Claude and always use abusive

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...

to describe "the insensible

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...

-looking woman". Neither Philip nor Lars speaks French, so Jozef becomes the interpreter. He is more friendly towards Claude and can't laugh with the remarks of Philip and Lars. Claude seems not to be very sociable. She only drives the boys to their different destinations and separates herself during each break. She does want to help the boys, but is always refused. The three are convinced they do not need Claude as "a replacement for their parents" and can handle the situation. Soon, they discover this is not that easy. Claude insists that the boys must accept her as they do need her help as a nurse. The three are surprised when they discover Claude does understand the

. They are embarrassed and ask Claude to forgive their misbehaviour, which she accepts. The following days are very entertaining and Claude decides to overnight in open sky. The next day, she drives them to a hotel. The three are led to a meeting room and are astonished when they meet their parents. They were able to locate their sons via the original tour operator who gave them the mobile number of Claude. Claude, who got a call of the parents, could not refuse the parents' request to drive them to this hotel. She is just out of prison due to maltreatment of her previous husband and does not want to get into new problems. The parents want to take their children back to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Philip and Lars get very aggressive and scream they do not want to be treated like children. Lars insists that his parents let them continue the trip. Eventually, they approve of their sons continuing the trip to Spain with Claude as a guide. Once they arrive Claude surprises them by taking them to a villa instead of the foreseen bungalow, which is a present from the parents. The boys decide that they want to see the night-life of the Spanish town. Claude brings them to the centre and allows them to take off by themselves. They try to strike up a conversation with a couple of girls and invite them to go to a restaurant together. Although the girls provide them with a recommendation, they are reluctant to join and state they don't have enough time, so the boys take off on their own. On the way to the restaurant, Lars is taken aside by a different girl which he had met before in a shop. He instructs Philip and Jozef to continue without him and takes off with the girl. Later on they are talking but Lars gets sick and is embarrassed. When Philip and Jozef return to the bus after dinner, they find Lars already there, clearly upset. Philip starts ranting about Lars ditching them, but Jozef tells him to 'shut up'. The first visit at the brothel is a disaster as Lars gets ill. During their next visit, Jozef does not want to go as he fell in love with Claude. This seems to be mutual and the two have sex in the tour bus. Lars and Philip enjoy their visit in the brothel. That night, the group decides to sleep on the beach. Next morning, Philip finds a dead Lars. Philip is picked up by his parents to travel to Belgium by aeroplane, whereas Jozef decides to stay with his new girlfriend Claude who drives him back to Belgium.

Awards

* ''Come as You Are'' was shown as opener for the

Ostend Film Festival The Ostend Film Festival ( nl, 'Filmfestival Oostende') is an annual film festival held in Ostend, Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country i ...

* The movie won the Grand Prix des Amériques at the international movie festival in

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

. It also got the People's Choice Award and a prize given by the Ecumenical Jury. * The movie won a Golden Spike, which is the prize for the best film at the international movie festival in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

. In the same contest, it also won the Youth Jury Award * It was nominated in the Alice nella città of the international movie festival in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. * It won the Prix de publique Europe at the film festival in

Alpe d'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Western Alps, in the commune of Huez, which is part of the department of Isère in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is part of th ...

* It was nominated for the

Magritte Award for Best Flemish Film in Coproduction The Magritte Award for Best Flemish Film ( French: Magritte du meilleur film flamand) is an award presented annually by the Académie André Delvaux. It is one of the Magritte Awards, which were established to recognize excellence in Belgian cin ...

. * The movie won the People's Choice Award for Best European Film in 2012.

Remakes

The film was remade in the Netherlands in 2016 and the United States in 2019.

References

External links

*
''Come as You Are''
at Dog and Wolf {{DEFAULTSORT:Come As You Are 2011 films 2011 comedy-drama films 2011 multilingual films 2010s Dutch-language films 2010s French-language films 2010s German-language films 2010s road comedy-drama films 2010s Spanish-language films Belgian comedy-drama films Belgian multilingual films Belgian road comedy-drama films European Film Awards winners (films) Films about disability Films about virginity Films directed by Geoffrey Enthoven French-language Belgian films