Kismet

When Yusuf (Hazim Körmükçü) has to go on a business trip to an island in the Aegean Sea - his firm raises sunken shipwrecks then sells them - his pregnant wife Meryem (Ebru Akel) invites herself along.

Meanwhile, a young soldier stationed on the island, Adem (Gürgen Öz), gets a letter his girlfriend saying she is leaving him for another man and taking their baby son with her. She is fed up being separated from him and being an unmarried mother.

As Yusuf and Meryem reach the island, Adem is running to the harbour to try to find his friend Niko (Cem Özer) to ask him to take him back to the mainland in his boat. But a terrible storm is raging and when Adem runs into the road, Yusuf cannot stop and ploughs into him, killing him.

In a panic, he refuses Meryem’s pleas to call the police and buries the body, much to her horror. But their terrible secret could quickly be exposed when construction work starts on the burial plot the next morning and Adem’s squadron start hunting for their AWOL comrade.

Also, Niko is concerned about his missing friend and the strangers’ car accident and begins investigating. Kismet – destiny – is definitely at work as the trio hurtle towards their unfortunate fates.

The movie, which has its roots in the film noir genre, moves at a very slow but steady pace and director Abdullah Oguz keeps things tense throughout. The absence of a score for much of the film helps build suspense and the silence is foreboding and eerie.

Yusuf is a clichéd unlikeable character rather than an innocent man we can forgive for making a mistake – the antithesis of Niko.

Oguz uses some subtle but clever techniques to show the growing divide between the man and wife – her back is constantly to her husband and we see her pained expressions in a string of close-up and medium shots.

While the plot is a little clichéd and Yusuf two-dimensional, the movie is still engaging viewing, largely thanks to strong performances by Ozer and Akel.