In the Family

Fikret's twenty one year relationship ends in a single day. On that same day, through an absurd coincidence, he meets Solmaz, who sings at a nightclub. Solmaz's daughter Zeynep is about to marry into a wealthy family from Adana, and she has described her own family as something other than it is. Fikret has to step into the role of a respectable father. What works are the scenes where the two families face each other. The bigger the performance they have to keep up, the bigger the comedy, and the humour runs on class difference throughout. The dialogue, written by Gülse Birsel, is the film's strength. Engin Günaydın, Demet Evgar, Gülse Birsel, Erdal Özyağcılar and Şevket Çoruh lead, with Ozan Açıktan directing. It broke box office records in Turkey in 2017 and set viewing records on streaming platforms afterwards. Its flaw is that the characters stay types, the Adana family is drawn largely from cliches, and the ending is tied off in a hurry. Who it is for: viewers who like Turkish comedy and Gülse Birsel's writing. Who it is not for: anyone after subtle humour.