''Keep Off'' ( nl, Afblijven) is a 2006 Dutch

children's film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films ar ...

, based on the children's novel ''

Afblijven ''Keep Off'' ( nl, Afblijven) is a 2006 Dutch children's film, based on the children's novel '' Afblijven'' by Carry Slee. The film, much like the book, explores drug abuse by adolescents and the negative effects it has on their lives. The fil ...

'' by

Carry Slee Carry or carrying may refer to: People * Carry (name) Finance * Carried interest (or carry), the share of profits in an investment fund paid to the fund manager * Carry (investment), a financial term: the carry of an asset is the gain or cost o ...

. The film, much like the book, explores

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

by adolescents and the negative effects it has on their lives. The film received a

Golden Film The Golden Film ( nl, Gouden Film) is a film award recognizing domestic box office achievements in the Netherlands. The Golden Film is awarded to films from the Netherlands once they have sold . The award is an initiative by the Netherlands Fi ...

(100,000 visitors).

Plot

Fourteen-year-old Melissa (Sem Veeger) pretends she's taking

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

lessons, to please her strict father, while she is in fact a hip hop dancer. She is given the opportunity to audition for background dancer in a video clip, but grows uncertain of her abilities. A newly met friend, Jim, gives her XTC, which enhances her performance. She is then selected to be in the music video. Her close friends Jordi and Fleur watch as Melissa becomes dependent on both XTC and Jim, who is now her new boyfriend, but can't convince Melissa she is making a wrong turn. At the music video shoot, Melissa fails to perform as well as she did before due to a lack of XTC and leaves the set. She has a fight with Jim and disappears soon after. As Jordi tries to find Melissa, she calls him and states she will be fine and she'll be at her "house" tonight. As the call was cut off, Jordi grows even more concerned and figures out where Melissa will be as he finds a poster announcing a "

house party A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...

" the same night. Hoping to find Melissa, Jordi attends the house party, only to see Melissa being treated by

paramedics A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

and taken to the hospital in critical state. Melissa ends up in a coma while Jordi finds out contaminated XTC pills were what caused her to collapse at the house party. After Melissa wakes up from her coma, Jordi convinces himself something needs to be done and enlists the police in order to arrest Melissa's boyfriend Jim. It is revealed Jim distributed the contaminated pills. Jordi then finds it difficult to become romantically involved with Melissa, but ultimately gives in.

Cast

Sem Veeger SEM can refer to: Computing * Search engine marketing, promoting websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results * Security event manager, a security log tool used on data networks Economics and management * Stock Exchange ...

as Melissa *

Matthijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen Matthijs Nicolaas van de Sande Bakhuyzen (born 16 October 1988) is a Dutch movie and television actor and former child actor. Biography Van de Sande Bakhuyzen was born on 16 October 1988 in Amsterdam, the son of movie director Willem van d ...

as Jordi *

Melody Klaver Melody Zoë Klaver (born 9 September 1990) is a Dutch actress. Early life and education Klaver was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands and grew up in the suburb town Abcoude. She has two older sisters, presenter/actress Kimberley Klaver and dancer ...

as Debby * Jim Bakkum as Toine *

Juliann Ubbergen Juliann is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Juliann Bluitt Foster (1938–2019), American dentist * Juliann Graham (1915–1935), American church choir singer and actress See also * Julian (given name) * Juliana Juliana (v ...

as Kevin * Tessa Schram as Fleur * Tommie Venneker as Jim *

Gijs Scholten van Aschat Gijs Scholten van Aschat (born 16 September 1959) is a Dutch actor. He has appeared in more than sixty films since 1980. He is the father of Reinout Scholten van Aschat Reinout Scholten van Aschat (born 9 November 1989) is a Dutch actor. ...

as father of Melissa * Loes Wouterson as mother of Melissa *

Thijs Römer Thijs Römer (born 26 July 1978) is a Dutch actor. He appeared in more than twenty films since 2000. He divorced actress Katja Schuurman in February 2015. On November 17th 2022, the Dutch authorities officially announced Römer will be prosecute ...

as Guido (video clip director) *

Brainpower Gerrit-Jan Mulder, known professionally as Brainpower (born 5 February 1975), is a Dutch rapper who writes, records and performs in both English as well as his native Dutch. He was born in Belgium and grew up in the Netherlands. He started ...

as himself *

Anneke Blok Anneke Blok (born 24 December 1959) is a Dutch actress. She won the 2008 Golden Calf for Best Actress award for her performance as Anne in '' Tiramisu''. Selected filmography References External links * 1959 births Living people ...

as mother of Jordi * Geert Lageveen as father of Jordi * Plien van Bennekom as Miss Zuurbier (German teacher) * Tjebbo Gerritsma as grandmother of Melissa * Stefan de Walle as policeman * Michiel Romeyn as boss of Jordi *

as bus passenger * Giovanni Kemper as dancer of the danceschool of Melissa

External links

Official website
*{{IMDb title, 0826027 2006 films Dutch children's films 2000s Dutch-language films Films based on children's books