Last Call for Istanbul follows two married people stumbling upon each other at an airport by chance, leading to an unforgettable night full of excitement, desire, and temptation in New York City. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
A man and a woman from Istanbul stumble upon each other at the baggage reclaim area where the woman’s trolley bag gets swapped with someone else’s identical bag.
The man decides to extend a helping hand and drops her off at the place where the man whose bag she has lived. He’s not there and would be able to swap back the bags in a day.
So the man drops her off at a hotel where he later decides to stay as well, in case the man never shows up and the woman is left helpless. The two later meet on the rooftop and flirt while delving into their marriages and partners.
The tension and chemistry between them are undeniable and they have a blast traversing the streets of Manhattan, getting jumped by a pimp, and attending an orgasm concert.
They finish off the night with passionate sex. Soon, it’s revealed that Paul and Samantha are actually Serin and Mehmet, a married couple on the verge of divorce.
They were recommended by their therapist to try and meet each other as if they were doing it for the first time in New York and see if they could fall for each other again like they did ten years ago.
Once a happy couple who’d left their dreams to be together, their relationship eroded bit by bit as miscommunication and external frustrations sowed distrust between them.
The night in New York reignites that lost spark but Serin doubts this is anything concrete and that soon, they’ll be their worst selves again. Mehmet realizes his mistakes as well and leaves for Istanbul, leaving a letter for her.
Serin makes an important choice between her life with Mehmet and a possible life in New York, as Last Call for Istanbul concludes.
Last Call for Istanbul ending explained in detail:
Why do Serin and Mehmet fight?
Serin and Mehmet fell in love with each other at first sight. Serin had a boyfriend at the time but her attraction towards Mehmet was stronger.
The two were madly in love and it was the type of love that doesn’t fade. Three years into their love, Serin dropped the opportunity of going to the Fashion Design college in New York, because everything was so great with Mehmet.
Her father met Mehmet and asked him to get his life together, leave music that he claims has no future for him, and get a job, citing how her daughter chose to stay with him instead of going to New York.
Mehmet does so eventually and the two marry each other, doing jobs that they didn’t dream of but finding all happiness in the mutual love they have for each other.
However, Serin’s employers steal her design and fire her. She regrets not going to New York for the first time. She later sends some of her designs to a place in New York, to try her luck.
She had little hope but she ended up getting selected for the Vargand Film Studio’s collection. Mehmet sees her acceptance later but doesn’t mention it to her, nor does she ever bring it up with him.
He expected her to tell him but she feared he’d say no, and then she’d have to stay. Soon, a rift between them gets bigger as they frequently get into fights and arguments. He starts getting jealous and insecure while she’s at work.
Soon, she finds a woman from Mehmet’s past sending him suggestive messages and photos of her on a constant basis.
She accuses him of cheating and he denies it, but she tells him they’ve had enough and their love for each other is clearly not what it once was. This eventually leads to the two in New York at the start of Last Call for Istanbul, to see if there’s still love between them.
Does Mehmet cheat on Serin?
Mehmet denies ever having cheated on Serin. She accuses him and she has reason to support it, but Mehmet says it’s a girl he once met after a gig and dropped her off.
He says the girl is a hardcore fan of his which is why she keeps sending those messages. In his defense, he cites the lack of a password on his phone and a similarly excited response to the girl’s texts from his side as evidence of his faithfulness.
However, Serin is not trusting of that and does later mention how this would have easily led to promiscuity if she hadn’t spotted the messages before that.
Mehmet remains adamant on his claim throughout Last Call for Istanbul. Soon after the post-message confrontation, Serin leaves a letter for him addressing all the things that have marred their relationship later and how it can’t go anywhere further.
Do Serin and Mehmet get divorced?
Their divorce dates are finalized but during their last couple’s therapy session, they’re recommended by their therapist to meet each other as if they’re doing it for the first time, as strangers, during their trip to New York where Serin has the interview for her job.
They pretend to be others, and this night of roleplay does end up reigniting the spark they had lost. The next morning, however, Serin claims nothing significant has happened, and that the problems in their relationship persist.
Mehmet gets angry and leaves, but not before leaving a letter for her in which he writes all that he could not say to her. He apologizes for not properly supporting her or encouraging her to follow her dreams and for the arguments.
He writes that he still very much loves her and if she does so too, she can come back to Istanbul with him with the return ticket.
She goes for the job interview and is selected but runs back to her husband, reuniting at the airport, where he’s fought with the staff to stay a little longer for his wife as well.
The two embrace each other and board the flight. It’s safe to say that Serin and Mehmet are not divorced and are back together at the end of Last Call for Istanbul.
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