Dir/Wri: Alireza Khatami | Cast: Ekin Koç, Erkan Koçak Köstendil, Hazar Ergüclü, Ercan Kesal
Writer-director Alireza Khatami is best known for his obtuse storytelling techniques but The Things You Kill, a noirish thriller about an unappealing university professor dealing with a dual domestic crisis is disappointing eventually ending up in no-mans’ land after opening as one of those slow-burning dramas in the style of Nuri Bilge Ceylan
What opens as a relatable film centring on the aftermath of a family upheaval and the consequent emotional confusion soon drifts into surreal territory with mysterious dreamlike sequences and dual identities that simply doesn’t ring true and renders what was initially a plausible scenario into absurd Bunuel
Ali (Ekin Koç), a part-time language teacher, has recently returned to Turkey from the US where he has lived for a number of years. Efforts to start a family with his wife, Hazar (Hazar Ergüclü), a vet, have ground to a halt and his low mood is compounded by the state of his mother. His father (Ercan Kesal) seems to be abusing his wife, the couple live in grim house in the outskirts of the city – she will suddenly die an explained death.
One day in his cabin in the hills Ali then comes across a drifter named Reza (Erkan Koçak Köstendil) who offers to help him out with some gardening, to take the weight off his shoulders. This all sounds exciting but gradually the plot will go pear-shaped requiring the audience to suspend disbelief in a tale devoid of dramatic heft.
Clearly Ali regrets his move back to Turkey from his a seemingly more fruitful like in the US and this disdainful torpor spills over onto everyone he meets in a way that his problems in Turkey fail to be of concern or even interest. And when his mother does die, in suspiciously circumstances, and the finger points to his father leaving Ali to deal with all the stress entailed we couldn’t really care less.
When Ali and Reza then become bizarrely involved in the grisly denouement the plot has drifted so far away from its promising premise we have completely lost interest. Everyone welcomes a film with original ideas and, especially a twisty tale with a satisfying outcome. But it’s doubly disappointing when our appetite is whetted but never satisfied at the end of the meal. @MeredithTaylor
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