Ray Boelens (Daglicht)

Ray Boelens is a main character in the Dutch thriller movie Daglicht (Daylight).

Character creation
The movie, along with the character of Ray, are based on the novel Daglight by Marion Pauw.

Biography
Lawyer Iris Boelens, along with her autistic son Aron, stays at her mother Ageeth's house for a week to keep an eye on the fish. The man who has helped maintain the aquarium since Iris was a little girl, accidentally alerts her to the existence of her hitherto secret brother Ray. Iris starts digging around in her mother's stuff and discovers that Ray was sentenced to 20 years in a psychiatric facility for the murder of his girlfriend Rosita and infant daughter Anna, whose body was never found. She visits Ray at the facility and believes he is innocent, and tries to reopen his case. However an unknown party starts threatening her and Aron, telling her to drop the case. Throughout her searches, she discovers what had really happened;

Ray is the son of Ageeth and the millionaire Twan Benschop. He was sent to a boarding school at age 9 after killing his dog. When he came of age, his mother arranged a flat and a job at a bakery for him. He became friendly with his neighbour Rosita, a young prostitute. They eventually get into a romantic relationship and have a baby named Anna. One day, Rosita's mother accidentally spilled boiling water on Anna. Ray becomes overwhelmed and doesn't know how to handle the situation, and calls his mother Ageeth for help. She wants to take Anna, but Rosita protests and pulls out a knife. In the ensuing struggle, Rosita gets stabbed by Ageeth. The latter calls Twan, who suffocates Rosita. Twan and Ageeth let Ray take the fall for the murder. Ageeth raises baby Anna as her own daughter, but to avoid legal troubles since Ray was never recognized as the father, she pretends that Anna was also killed and the corpse disappeared. Anna was given a new name: Iris.

After uncovering the truth, Iris arranges for Ray to get released.

Autism
Ray is stated to be autistic in the movie. According to his mother, he was a quiet baby, but became difficult to handle around age 18 months. As a child, his peers pushed him to kill his dog with a stone, after which his mother sent him to boarding school. As an adult he was able to live semi-independently: his mother provided him with a job and a flat, and he eventually became a father. However unpredictable situations are incredibly overwhelming and he has a tendency to lash out in these moments of overwhelm.

After being locked up for years in a psychiatric facility, he is unable to live by himself anymore.