“The fear of lost sexual innocence underpins this ebullient sibling comedy-drama with shades of Sofia Coppola” - Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian
“A playful look at five young women’s rebellion against their strict upbringing soon becomes something far more stirring and emotional.” - Tim Grierson, Screendaily
“Pared-back storytelling and a bold, very present musical score by Warren Ellis culminate in a phenomenally emotional climax” - New Zealand International Film Festival
Five girls live in a sizeable, well-furnished home “a thousand kilometres from Istanbul,” but a century from any notion of women’s rights. With their parents dead, they are raised by their grandmother, an aunt and a temperamental uncle whose main concern in life is the state of the girls’ hymens. An opening sequence, a wholly innocent bit of splashing around with boys at the beach, begins a fusillade of arranged marriages, soldered window bars and unplugged telephones. Any clothing other than formless brown gowns are verboten when men are around.
One could easily graft something of a political message about Turkey’s increasing trend away from secularism in this film. However, there isn’t much that’s specific to Islam. The frustrations are universal. Director Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s vibe (accentuated by a Warren Ellis score) may put audiences in mind of The Virgin Suicides; hardly a bad comparison for a first-time director. And one can’t say enough good things about Günes Sensoy, who can look like a scrappy ragamuffin one moment or a sharp young woman the next, all depending on the lighting or the part in her hair.
Jordan Hoffman,
The Guardian
