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Knokke Off
Created by	Anthony Van Biervliet
Written by	Nele Vandael, Luk Wyns
Directed by	Tom Goris
Country of origin	Belgium Netherlands
Original language	Dutch
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Producers	Anthony Van Biervliet, Ruben Vandenborre, Angela Pruijssers, Willem Pruijssers
Cinematography	Tom Bonroy, Pieter Van Alphen
Running time	35 min
Production company	Dingie
Original release
Network	VRT 1
Release	12 May 2023 (2023-05-12)

Knokke Off (High Tides) is a Belgian fictional television series created by Anthony Van Biervliet which first aired in 2023. It tells the story of a group of young people and their parents who spent their summer in the Belgian coastal town of Knokke.

The show is a Flemish-Dutch coproduction. It was first made available in Belgium on the public broadcaster VRT's streaming platform VRT MAX and in the Netherlands on Netflix. Knokke Off was highly successful, drawing a large viewership in both countries.

Internationally, the series is also known as High Tides. A second season was announced in December 2023.

Synopsis

A young couple in their early twenties, Louise Basteyns (Pommelien Thijs) and Alexandre "Alex" Vandael (Willem De Schryver), experience a carefree summer with their friends in the chic town of Knokke on the Belgian coast. Despite their opulent lifestyle and extravagant parties, the pressure from their wealthy families to meet high expectations looms over them.

As the summer unfolds, the facade begins to crack for everyone involved. Louise grapples with her bipolar disorder, questioning the necessity of the mood-regulating pills she takes. Alex, often short-tempered, wrestles with his own demons, determined not to follow in his father Patrick's (Geert Van Rampelberg) footsteps after his affair with Eleanore (Ruth Bequaert), Alex's mother and her best friend. Knokke, a fashionable coastal town, reveals itself to be a snake's nest of hidden secrets.

Into this tumultuous world enters Daan (Eliyha Altena) and his mother Melissa (Anna Drijver) from the Dutch city of Breda. Spending their summer near Knokke in Cadzand, their presence turns everything upside down. The search for truth intensifies as the masks worn by everyone begin to unravel.

Episodes

Cast

• Pommelien Thijs as Louise Basteyns
• Willem De Schryver as Alexander Vandael
• Eliyha Altena as Daan
• Manouk Pluis as Anouk
• Ayana Doucouré as Margaux
• Kes Bakker as Matti
• Jef Hellemans as Victor
• Emma Moortgat [nl] as Emilie Basteyns
• Anna Drijver as Melissa
• Ruth Becquart [nl] as Eleonore
• Geert Van Rampelberg [nl] as Patrick Vandael
• Ini Massez [nl] as Angelique
• Pieter Genard [nl] as Jan Basteyns
• Jasmine Sendar [nl] as Christine
• Gene Bervoets as Jacques
• Felicia van Remoortel as Olivia
• Pierre Gervais as Charles

Production and Distribution

Knokke Off is a co-production between the Flemish production company Dingie for the Flemish public television station VRT and the streaming service Netflix. The series was created in collaboration with the Dutch film distributor Dutch FilmWorks and with the support of the Flemish film fund Screen Flanders, the municipality of Knokke-Heist and the tax relief measures of the Belgian government ("Belgian Tax Shelter").

Filming took place in the summer of 2022, mainly in Knokke.

The series was shown on the Belgian online platform VRT MAX from May 12, 2023, before it was broadcast every week on the Flemish channel VRT 1 from August 3. In the Netherlands, the series was available on Netflix from July 19.

On 7 December 2023, Netflix made the series available in the rest of the world under the title High Tides.

In December 2023, VRT announced that the filming of a second season would take place in summer 2024 and that new characters would be added.

Reception

Critical reception

The series was generally well received by critics. Stefan Werbrouck of the Flemish magazine HUMO wrote that Knokke Off was "more exciting, more daring, and simply better than all other fictional works of VRT that spring". Elmo Lê Van of the newspaper De Morgen particularly highlighted the performances of the actors Pommelien Thijs ("Louise") and Willem De Schryver ("Alex") and stated that the series is "fast-paced, fascinating, simply excellent." He continued saying that despite the overarching theme that those with money and status are invariably among the winners, the screenwriters did not make cheap attacks on the rich because life would also "hold shitty moments for those ready, who hang a cashmere sweater around their shoulders."

Elien Valcke of the Belgian website Geekster praised the series in the highest tones, especially the screenplay, the acting performances of the main actors, the soundtrack and also the choice of filming locations, stating that Knokke would at times look like an exotic destination and not like the ordinary Belgian coast. Ruben Praster of the Dutch entertainment magazine Veronica Superguide found Knokke Off to be "easy to swallow", but that it takes a while to get going. Especially the tension between Alex and his father "lack any subtlety and seem to come straight from a soap opera". He continues that the series does not capture the viewer immediately, but one would want to know how it will proceed.

Marc Reynebeau of the newspaper De Standaard, on the other hand, found Knokke Off "absolutely unbelievable". He commented that the characters are one-dimensional, the plots too jerky, and that the secondary characters come and go without internal logic. Omar Larabi of the Dutch public television association BNNVARA regretted that the scriptwriters would often resort to clichés and never really make life at the bottom of the social ladder tangible. He criticised the series for being just one more show focusing on the life of rich youth.

At the end of November 2023, the series had a score of 3.38 out of 5 stars on the Dutch platform moviemeter.nl, with 65 votes. In the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the series held an average rating of 7.6 out of 10 from over 1,500 individual ratings.

In December 2023, Knokke Off was one of 10 programmes nominated for the Flemish television award "De HA! van Humo". The readers of the same magazine also voted Knokke Off the "Best Series (National)" in "Humo's Pop Poll".

Viewership

The series was a huge success. Although it was initially only available exclusively on the online portal VRT MAX, the 10 episodes were viewed more than seven million times in the first four months. Half of those clicks came from the 13 to 34-year-old target group, which is generally harder to reach.

When Knokke Off was broadcast on television, the first two episodes were watched by half a million viewers live and an additional 400,000 people time-shifted.

The series was also successful in the Netherlands and was the most-watched series on Netflix.

Outside of Belgium and the Netherlands, Knokke Off or High Tides was in the global Top 5 of the most streamed Netflix shows in a language other than English in December 2023. It took the second spot in Spain, Uruguay, Argentina and Germany, the third spot in Austria and the fourth spot in Switzerland.

References

1. ^ Vansant, Geert (12 September 2023). "Meer dan 7 miljoen videostarts voor VRT MAX only-serie Knokke off". var.be. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
2. ^ "Anna Drijver verovert Netflix nu helemaal met veel pikante scènes". filmtotaal.nl. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
3. ^ Joke, Vereecken (21 December 2023). "'Knokke Off' ('High Tides') scoort wereldwijd op Netflix". businessam.be. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
4. ""We mogen het eindelijk zeggen": 'Knokke Off' krijgt een vervolg, opnames starten volgende zomer". hln.be. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
5. "Opnames gestart van 'Knokke off'". vrt.be. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
6. "Pommelien Thijs, Willem De Schryver en Eliyha Altena schitteren in gloednieuwe fictiereeks 'Knokke off'". vrt.be. 12 May 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
7. Vets, Tom (3 August 2023). "'Knokke Off' start op VRT 1 meteen met dubbele aflevering". nieuwsblad.be. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
8. van Steensel, Tom (13 July 2023). "Knokke off: nieuwe Belgische dramaserie verschijnt 19 juli op Netflix". bnnvara.nl. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
9. "Het verhaal gaat verder... Knokke off krijgt tweede seizoen!". vrt.be. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
10. Werbrouck, Stefaan (1 September 2023). "De tienerserie 'Knokke Off' is spannender, gewaagder en simpelweg beter dan alle andere VRT-fictie van dit voorjaar". humo.be. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
11. Lê Van, Elmo (7 June 2023). "'Knokke off' is zo goed dat je vergeet dat de reeks 'Knokke off' heet". demorgen.be. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
12. Valcke, Elien. "Knokke Off review: beste van twee werelden". geekster.be. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
13. Praster, Ruben (19 July 2023). "Recensie Knokke Off – 'Na een langzaam begin, grijpt de Vlaamse serie je aandacht vast'". veronicasuperguide.nl. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
14. Reynebeau, Marc (3 August 2023). "F*** toch off met die Knokke off: thuis verdienen we beter". standaard.be. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
15. Larabi, Omar (20 July 2023). "Knokke Off S01E01: wéér drama met rijke jongelingen". bnnvara.nl. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
16. "Knokke Off (Serie, 2023 - 2023)". moviemeter.nl. n.d. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
17. Werbrouck, Stefaan (11 December 2023). "Van 'Godvergeten' tot 'Knokke Off': wie wint vanavond de Ha! van Humo 2023?". v. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
18. "De uitslagen van Humo's Pop Poll: dit zijn uw man, vrouw én lul van het jaar!". humo.be. 26 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
19. Vereecken, Joke (16 August 2023). "'Knokke Off' is ook op televisie én in Nederland een groot succes". newsmonkey.be. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
20. Demeyer, Paul (21 December 2023). "nieuwsblad.be: Zo goed scoort 'Knokke off' op Netflix: op 2 in Duitsland en Argentinië, op 3 in Oostenrijk". nieuwsblad.be. Retrieved 4 January 2024.

External links

• Knokke Off on VRT and Netflix
• Knokke Off at IMDb

• 2023 Belgian television series debuts
• 2023 Dutch television series debuts
• Dutch-language television shows
• Television shows set in Belgium
• Television shows filmed in Belgium
• Serial drama television series