Private Lesson review: Surprisingly entertaining comedy flick

‘Private Lesson’ is a Turkish comedy film that focuses on Azra, a young woman who makes a living by posing as a tutor for college girls. However, in reality, she assists them in achieving their life goals by guiding them in areas no parent would. It is now streaming on Netflix.

Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers

Story

‘Private Lesson’ opens by introducing Azra, an independent young woman who helps college girls to pursue their dreams by posing as an academic tutor in front of their parents. 

We then meet Hande, a goofy student at Dünya University who is madly in love with a popular boy named Utku but is a nobody herself. After embarrassing herself in front of her crush, she hides in the toilet and overhears a conversation between Azra and a couple of her clients.

Desperate to win over Utku, Hande pesters Azra for help. She refuses initially but changes her mind when Hande mentions that she is the new college chancellor’s niece. 

Azra invites the girl to visit her place the next day, but her woes aren’t over. She reaches her apartment building, only to find her door blocked by a huge cabinet that belongs to a new tenant, Burak. 

There is a mildly heated yet flirty exchange between the two, and Azra shows some liking toward her new neighbor. The next day, Hande shows up on time, and Azra begins to school her on attracting guys.

As Hande starts dating Utku and Azra develops a relationship with Burak, a cyber harassment incident threatens to create severe problems for them.

Performances

The acting overall in Private Lesson is perfect for the script’s demands. The story is straightforward and never needs a layered or multi-dimensional performance.

Bensu Soral as Azra and Helin Kandemir as Hande stand out. Their tutor-mentor relationship is fun to watch, and both actors embrace their characters to a T.

Halit Özgür Sari as Burak is also a pleasant addition to the plot. His chemistry with Soral is undeniably one of the best things about the film.

Positives

Private Lesson is a breezy watch and never tries to bore you with additional plot lines or unsuccessful explorations of complicated themes. It presents a simple argument of letting students pursue their dreams even if they are unconventional.

The chemistry between the leading pair is also a huge positive. Even though their relationship isn’t the driving force of the film, it still steals the show.

Due to not having a lot to showcase, the film’s runtime sits perfect at 90 minutes and its pacing is quite apt as well. The comedic moments in the film are plenty and most of them land.

Negatives

Owing to the nature of the plot, Private Lesson is obviously predictable. There isn’t much discussion of character histories and therefore it is difficult to relate to any of them.

Azra being the protagonist is also not delved into much and her exact job is never explained properly. Despite its watchability, the narrative required a little more meat to make it memorable.

Some instances like Azra going to the roof for a romantic moment when Hande is in danger or a snooty neighbour revealing the truth about Burak’s sister feel unrealistic.

Verdict

Private Lesson is a fun, quick and cosy watch that you can turn to without hesitation. However, it is offers nothing new and will probably be forgotten as a new set of romantic comedies drop in the coming days.


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