Undeniably amongst the most powerful, provocative & pragmatic narratives to surface on the silver screen in recent years, Mustang is a beautifully balanced blend of skillful direction, sensible writing & terrific performances that takes a much-needed dig at patriarchy & conservatism and also works as a joyful celebration of sisterhood.

Set in a small Turkish village, the story of Mustang follows five young orphaned sisters whose lives are changed completely when they are caught harmlessly playing with some boys on a beach, after which their conservative family bars them from going to school anymore and begins marrying them off one by one without their consent.

Co-written & directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven in what is actually her feature film debut, Mustang takes only a…

A better The Virgin Suicides than The Virgin Suicides. The contract between the film’s most joyous and its saddest moment could not be much extremer, and neither is insincere. Lale, Nur, Selma, Ece, Sonay — it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find five better leads of such young age for a picture like this. It is not only their first-rate acting skills, but their utmost authenticity in mannerism and expression too, that make Mustang more than just another cinematic critique towards arranged marriages. It is a coming-of-age drama, which reflects upon its five central protagonists as well as the society that so decisively influences their lives, whilst hinting at the transition that is bound to happen, even if…

70/100

A.V. Club review. Rare case of a film that I started out hating and wound up kind of loving. Early scenes have the five sisters behaving almost as a single organism, manic and undifferentiated; this proves to have a strategic purpose, as they're subsequently "picked off" one by one by the serial killer known as Patriarchy. Comparison to The Virgin Suicides is unavoidable (though I confess that it didn't occur to me until I read other reviews; saw Coppola's film only once, when it opened, and really need to revisit it), but Ergüven's take on the subject is at once less artful and more emotionally direct. For whatever reason, the tradeoff works for me here much more often than…

So many Virgin Suicides comparisons in the Letterboxd reviews and I guess I see it? Granted I haven't watched the Sofia Coppola movie since it was released (wow, nearly 20 years ago), but I remember it being much more stylized and very dreamy. The basic premise of Mustang, where a group of thick-as-thieves sisters slowly have their group pulled apart by the influence of outside forces does have a thematic overlap.

My favorite kinds of movies generally are very cinematic - deliberate camera moves, dramatic lighting, memorable dialogue, and a sense of elevated reality. But naturalism done well, as it is here, is often more impressive to me in execution; when actors don't appear to be acting, and the camera…

By far one of the most important and powerful films to come out in recent years. A reminder of the atrocities girls still go through, always maintaining a female point of view, but told with nuance, sensibility, and truth.

From small to big defiances, the five sisters constantly challenge the oppression they face and the patriarchal traditions that constrain them. At its core, the film is about the bonds of sisterhood that help get through abuse and heal, that give them strength, serve as a reminder that love and happiness exist. The scenes between the sisters bring joy, beauty, and light in an otherwise bleak movie.

However, Mustang wouldn't be as powerful without the excellent and genuine performances of the…