In Chokehold, A couple moves to a village in Turkey after a scandal in Istanbul, but realises that escaping the past isn’t that easy. The Turkish thriller-drama film is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
Yalin (Kivanç Tatlitug) and Beyza (Funda Eryigit) decide to move to back to the former’s village in Turkey after a huge scandal in Istanbul.
Yalin was one of the businessmen who were arrested for orchestrating a Ponzi scheme and losing the money of all the investors.
He was arrested for this, but managed to get acquitted. What he does not know is that he now has a target on his back.
From those in the village that invested in the scheme, to men hired by his former partners as revenge for turning them in, Yalin has a fight for survival on his hands.
This soon turns perilous and Yalin must now kill to survive. He also needs to keep all this hidden from Beyza.
Performances
Tatlitug is exceptional as Yalin. The character is gradually descending into madness and the actor does not put a single foot wrong throughout the film.
Eryigit is decent as well. Beyza is the only other central character of the film and the pair powers through everything.
Positives
The exploration of Yalin’s mind through the film is the highlight of the film. You meet him when he is reeling from the recent tragedy.
Suddenly, he is introduced to the possibility of being killed at any time. He was completely unaware of all the investors with humble backgrounds when he was on top.
Now that he is back among them, he faces the harsh reality that he doesn’t only need to survive financially and legally, but literally as well.
This causes him to head into a downward spiral that impacts him to the extent that he starts losing mental stability. He practices killing at home, faces denial after murder and such.
Chokehold is cleverly written and has a tight screenplay. Everything happens for a reason and nothing is held back, including the scathing conclusion that plays on humanity’s greed.
Negatives
The film can drag at some points but mostly keeps you engaged. The editing could have been better and would have added to the overall quality.
At a runtime of 1 hour and 50 minutes, it does not try enough to develop characters apart from the leads. There was scope for improvement in terms of assimilating the characters better into the narrative.
Verdict
Chokehold is one of the better films of the year that takes a not-so-complicated premise and makes sure to tell this story as well as possible.
Chokehold
Director: Onur Saylak
Date Created: 2023-04-21 17:50
3.5
Also Read: The Diplomat (2023) review: Political drama with an extremely engaging narrative