Character Relationship Map: Hemel

Characters

• Hemel (played by Hannah Hoekstra) — protagonist

  A 25-year-old Dutch woman who frequently engages in casual sexual encounters and maintains a deeply complex, possessive, and borderline incestuous relationship with her father, Gijs. She experiences t...

• Gijs (played by Hans Dagelet) — protagonist

  Hemel's father who shares an intensely close, boundary-crossing relationship with her. He ends a relationship with Emma, becomes engaged to Sophie, and reveals Hemel's birth was an accident following...

• Sophie (played by Rifka Lodeizen) — supporting

  An auctioneer and Gijs's new romantic partner. Gijs gives her a ring and invites her to meet Hemel. She is aware of Gijs's history with other women. Hemel reacts with open hostility and possessiveness...

• Douwe (played by Mark Rietman) — supporting

  A married man and colleague of Brechtje who engages in an affair with Hemel. He confesses that she is the only woman he has ever cheated on his wife with, yet ultimately ends the relationship by stati...

• Teun (played by Maarten Heijmans) — supporting
• Brechtje (played by Barbara Sarafian) — supporting

  Brechtje is Douwe's wife. When Hemel waits outside their home in the rain, Brechtje answers the door, informs her of Douwe's absence, and shares a personal childhood memory. She ultimately comforts a...

• Emma (played by Eva Duijvestein) — supporting

  Gijs's ex-girlfriend who ends their relationship just before attending a dinner party with Hemel. Afterward, she confronts Hemel in the bathroom, accusing her of being selfish and taking more than she...

• Jimmy (played by Ali Ben Horsting) — minor

  A stranger Hemel takes home for a sexual encounter. The meeting turns violent as he strangles and rapes her, leaving Hemel traumatized before she later attends Teun's birthday party.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Hemel → Teun (Family Ex-Step Siblings) — Their former step-family connection remains socially relevant.

  Hemel attends the birthday party of her ex-stepbrother, Teun.

• Gijs → Brechtje (Professional Colleagues) — Their professional connection links Gijs's work life to Douwe's marriage.

  Brechtje is described as one of Gijs's colleagues through the statement that Douwe is the husband of one of his colleagues.

• Hemel → Douwe (Romantic Affair Partners) — Their affair offers Hemel intimacy but remains explicitly temporary.

  Hemel has an affair with Douwe, a married man, and he tells her she is the only woman with whom he has cheated on his wife.

• Gijs → Emma (Former Romantic Partners) — Their ended relationship creates an awkward social encounter.

  Gijs breaks up with Emma immediately before the dinner party.

• Gijs → Sophie (Romantic Partners) — Sophie is Gijs's new romantic partner and intended cohabitant.

  Gijs gives Sophie a ring bearing the words 'You make me human' and tells Hemel that Sophie will live in his house.

• Hemel → Gijs (Family Daughter And Father) — Their familial bond is unusually intense and boundary-crossing.

  The plot explicitly identifies Gijs as Hemel's father and describes their close relationship throughout the film.

• Douwe → Brechtje (Family Married Couple) — Their marriage is directly affected by Douwe's affair with Hemel.

  The plot identifies Douwe as Brechtje's husband, and Douwe describes betraying the intimacy of his marriage through the affair.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Hemel → Brechtje (Social Unexpected Comfort) — Brechtje responds compassionately despite Hemel's connection to Douwe.

  When Hemel arrives at Douwe and Brechtje's home in the rain, Brechtje dries her tears and hugs her.

• Hemel → Jimmy (Conflict Sexual Assault) — Jimmy's violence becomes a traumatic event in Hemel's story.

  After Hemel goes home with Jimmy, the encounter becomes violent when he strangles and rapes her.

• Emma → Hemel (Conflict Moral Confrontation) — Emma directly challenges Hemel's attitude toward intimacy.

  In the bathroom after the breakup, Emma tells Hemel that she takes more than she gives in relationships.

• Hemel → Sophie (Conflict Rivalry) — Sophie becomes a perceived rival for Gijs's emotional attention.

  Hemel is openly hostile toward Sophie and possessive of Gijs's affection after learning that Sophie will become part of his household.

Story Analysis

A young woman's unstable search for intimacy exposes trauma, possessiveness, and the blurred boundaries of family love.

Plot Progression

1. Intimacy Without Commitment — Hemel moves through casual sexual encounters while maintaining an intense bond with her father. Gijs's breakup with Emma exposes tensions surrounding Hemel's view of relationships.
2. Trauma and Emotional Rivalry — Jimmy's assault abruptly changes Hemel's emotional landscape. At the same time, Gijs's relationship with Sophie creates a threat to Hemel's possessive connection with her father.
3. Temporary Desire — Hemel begins an affair with Douwe and is drawn to his unusual confession of intimacy and infidelity. His statement that the affair cannot last leaves her emotionally unsettled.
4. The Father's Boundary — During their holiday in Sevilla, Gijs tells Hemel that Sophie will live with him. Their intimate conversations and physical caretaking reveal the unstable boundaries of their relationship.
5. Rain and Recognition — Hemel returns to Douwe's home seeking contact but finds Brechtje instead. Brechtje's memory and embrace provide an unexpected moment of compassion.