The Over the Hill Band

After her husband dies, an Antwerp pensioner decides to put the old music band back together. Before she had her sons, Michel (Lucas Van den Eynde) and Alexander (Jan Van Looveren), Claire (Marilou Mermans) sang in the Sisters of Love with Lutgarde (Lut Thomsen) and Magda (Lea Couzin). Michel has done well for himself, but Alexander—who goes by “Sid”—has been struggling to make it in the music business, so Claire asks him to contribute his talents to the mix, but he turns her down. Claire next tries the ladies: Magda is game, but Lut is skeptical until Artuur (Michel Israel), a church choir colleague, convinces her to participate and also offers to join them, at which point Sid reconsiders, except he wants to perform hip-hop rather than Jacques Brel covers. After Claire rents a practice space, Sid hires a bass player and a drummer, but the differing approaches lead to clashes, and Michel worries that his mother is spending too much of her retirement income on a quixotic endeavor. Along the way, Claire grows closer to Artuur (who's been teaching her how to drive) and Sid (who puts some of his deep-seated selfishness aside to help his mother push through obstacles). Although somewhat uneven, this Belgian dramedy is a strong optional purchase. (K. Fennessy)