AllMovie

An idyllic luxury hotel in Belgium is home to a variety of turbulent situations in this drama from director Kaat Beels. The Swooni is a hotel in Brussels where the wealthy (and those who like to imagine what it's like to be wealthy) go to get away from their troubles, but not everyone there is so fortunate. Hendrik (Geert Van Rampelberg) is a policeman who has checked in with his wife Anna (Sara De Roo) and teenage son Jens (Enrique De Roeck). They're in Brussels to attend a wedding, but Hendrik is hoping the weekend will put some spark back in his marriage; however, he soon has reason to suspect his wife is planning to meet her lover while in town. Vicky (Natali Broods), a maid at the hotel, discovers that one of the guests is her mother Violette (Viviane De Muynck), who she hasn't spoken with in years. Vicky isn't interested in spending time with her mom, but Violette hopes to settle their differences since learning she has cancer. And Joyeux (Vigny Tchakouani) is a young boy from the Ivory Coast who has been separated from his father. Vicky, who has long wanted a child, takes the boy under her wing, but his father Amadou (Issaka Sawadogo), in the country illegally and on the run from the police, isn't happy with her interference when he shows up to claim the boy. Hotel Swooni (aka Swooni) received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.