Love, Spells and All That

Big scandal instead of big love in repressive Turkey: As teenagers, Eren, the daughter of a powerful politician, and Reyhan, the daughter of one of Eren's father's employees, were madly in love with each other. However, the forbidden relationship came to an abrupt end when Eren's mother caught the two teenagers in bed. The two girls were not only forced to separate: Eren had to leave her home island, while Reyhan's family would never get a leg up again due to the intervention of Eren's powerful father. 20 years after the end of their love affair, Eren returns to her childhood sweetheart on the enchanting island of Büyükada - to the place where their love once began. Eren is still in love. But Reyhan is firmly convinced that Eren did not come back to her of his own free will. It was not love, but a spell that she cast on Eren 20 years ago that led her back to the island. Reyhan is so adamant about her love spell theory that even the stubborn Eren is soon convinced. The spell must be broken - only then will it become clear whether the two women have more in common than mere magic... "But the great thing about director and screenwriter Ümit Ünal's film is that the two leading actresses bring the structure to life. It's a joy to follow their talking, hesitation, insistence, Reyhan's struggle not only with Eren, but also with herself, Eren's despair in the face of her friend's resistance, to the point of doubt as to whether she is doing the right thing. Like the dialog, they are almost constantly on the move, up hills, down streets, to the magician who cast the spell (only her son is still alive), to the house where Eren once lived. Only in this double movement, that of bodies and that of words, do things, memories, hardenings and resistances begin to dissolve. And what has been loosened can be reconnected again and again and differently. The film also thrives on the suspense of whether the impossible is possible, whether everything can still turn out well twenty years too late. In truth, however, the journey is already the destination, the happy time spent with Eren and Reyhan." (Ekkehard Knörer, at: taz.de)