Thirty-something Ali (Ekin Koç) leads a seemingly stable life. He teaches a course at a university in Ankara, is attempting to conceive a child with his wife, and tends a garden on the city’s outskirts — a task for which he enlists the help of a mysterious but capable stranger. However, when his ailing mother dies under ambiguous circumstances, Ali’s life starts to unravel, resulting in an act that shatters our understanding of his person.
Winner of the Directing Award in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Iranian writer-director Alireza Khatami (Terrestrial Verses) delivers a tense psychological thriller with the shadowy ambiance of a classic noir and a boldly conceived twist on the vagaries of personal identity. “No one is resentful by nature,” remarks Ali’s newly hired gardener. An unsparing look at generational cycles of violence and corruption, this is a film that examines just how resentment arises, probing the demons we carry within us.
Alireza Khatami
Selen Kurtaran, Idil Engindeniz, Güliz Şirinyan, Aysan Sümercan Ölmez
France/Poland/Canada/Turkey
2025
In Turkish with English subtitles
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Credits
Executive Producer
Naomi Despres, Michèle Marshall (Desmar), ErcanKesal
Producer
Elisa Sepulveda-Ruddoff, Cyriac Auriol, Mariusz Włodarski, Alireza Khatami, Michael Salomon
Screenwriter
Alireza Khatami
Cinematography
Bartosz Świniarski
Editor
Selda Taşkın, Alireza Khatami
Production Design
Meral Aktan
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