Mustang

Beautifully shot, with stunning performances by its non-professional young cast, the Oscar-nominated Mustang is both a rousing tale of spirited youth and a powerful, moving and timely work of engaging social cinema.

It’s the beginning of summer. In a small village in northern Turkey, Lale and her four sisters are on their way home from school, innocently playing with local boys. But prying village eyes view their games with suspicion and the girls’ behaviour—and refusal to repent—quickly causes a scandal among the family.

Soon the sisters find themselves locked in their bedrooms, with sober dress enforced and their schoolwork replaced by cookery classes. Their home now a prison, all the girls have to live for are arranged marriages and family honour. But together, driven by strength, courage and a desire for freedom, the five sisters fight back against the limits imposed on them and test their family ties to breaking point.

Drawing vocal support from critics, festivals and audiences across the globe, this stunning debut from female director Deniz Gamze Ergüven is set to be one of the most talked-about and celebrated films of the year.

Mustang, dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Turkey/France/Germany/Qatar 2015, 97 mins. With English subtitles.

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