Canada’s submission for the Best International Feature Film award at this year’s Academy Awards, and a prizewinner at festivals including Sundance and Vancouver, this third feature by Alireza Khatami is a slow-burn psychological thriller about a man coming apart at the seams. Ekin Koç stars as Ali, a literature professor who’s come home to Turkey after a long period in the U.S. His stresses over his fertility struggles with his wife Hazar (Hazar Ergüçlü) are compounded by the resumption of his long-running hostilities with his father Hamit (Ercan Kesal). As his personal woes worsen, Ali finds solace in his new relationship with Reza (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil), a mysterious man who Ali hires to take care of his family property in the countryside. Where THE THINGS YOU KILL goes next will surprise viewers, with Khatami proving to be equally skilled at fostering an atmosphere of dread as he is at revealing the many layers of a character cracking under his society’s patriarchal pressures.

Director: Alireza Khatami

Cast: Ekin Koç, Hazar Ergüçlü, Erkan Kolçak Köstendil

Language: Turkish with English subtitles

Runtime: 113 minutes

Content warning: domestic violence, sexually suggestive scenes, nudity, violence, coarse language. Not recommended for under-18s.

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