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The Things You Kill film image; man walking through a desert

The Things You Kill

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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.

 

Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Sundance 2025; Oscar Submission: Canada

Oct 3 & 4: Q&A

 

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Director
Cast

Selen Kurtaran, Idil Engindeniz, Güliz Şirinyan, Aysan Sümercan Ölmez

Credits
Country of Origin

France/Poland/Canada/Turkey

Year

2025

Language

In Turkish with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
113 min
Action Award Winners Drama Family Relations
Fulgurance

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

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

Alireza Khatami headshot

Alireza Khatami

Alireza Khatami is an award-winning writer, director, and producer based in Canada. Born into the indigenous Khamse tribe in southeastern Iran, Khatami draws from the rich oral storytelling traditions of his heritage, and his works are notable for melding magic realism with sharp social commentary. His debut feature, Oblivion Verses, premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival, garnering critical acclaim and winning multiple awards; his second feature, Terrestrial Verses (2023, co-directed with Ali Asgari), premiered in the Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews and has been theatrically released in more than 15 countries.

Filmography: Oblivion Verses (2017); Terrestrial Verses (2023)

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