How Long Is “Anvers”?

Martin loses his job as a result of the financial crisis. Together with his wife, Jasmijn, and their one year-old child, they are forced to move in with Jasmijn’s parents in their flat in Antwerp on a temporary basis’. The love between Martin and Jasmijn rapidly deteriorates. Martin seems to be living in a world of his own and refuses to lower himself into signing on at the employment office. He wanders through town and hangs round near the flat where they used to live. He finds a happy family there. Martin can’t accept that they have the happiness that he couldn’t have and decides to destroy their happiness just like his happiness was destroyed – in his view. When Jasmijn finds out they aren’t eligible for a new house because Martin never signed on at the employment office, it means the bombshell’s been dropped.