Mustang (2015)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Lale	Güneş Şensoy
Nur	Doga Doguşlu
Ece	Elit Işcan
Selma	Tugba Sunguroglu
Sonay	Ilayda Akdogan
The grandmother	Nihal Koldaş
Erol	Ayberk Pekcan

Review

Traditions in rural Turkey are given a bashing in this confrontational film from exiled Turkish writer/director Deniz Gamze Ergüven, as five young sisters/cousins rebel against gender inequality and the customs of arranged marriage. Ergüven has got a bold style; she juxtaposes the girls' coming-of-age in a sensual, warm-paletted manner with the controlling, patriarchal reign the girls are living under. It's effective to the extent that the story is believable, which probably can be discussed. Although the five girls don't seem to have all that different personalities, their destinies are ultimately quite different, and some of these destinies are more filmatically effective than others. There's a poignant contrast in the double-wedding of Sonay and Selma, but the focal point of the film is young actress Güneş Şensoy as Lale. Her expressive face harbours the feelings of claustrophobia and desperation that Ergüven wants to convey, and although the story in the end might feel a little contrived, through Lale it is also optimistic and forward-looking. Nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.