2 Best Movies to Watch by Defne Kayalar

This gorgeous drama-thriller is set in bustling Istanbul where different characters, mostly women, cross paths.

And when I say gorgeous, I mean of the drop-dead variety. The cinematography is reminiscent of the Japanese style of Kazuo Miyagawa or Columbus director Kogonada.

And it’s all matched by the dialogue. The first episode follows a woman who lays bare her life in a first session with a psychologist. The story then moves on to her psychologist seeing her own clinician, mostly discussing how she feels about seeing veiled patients.

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Actor: Öykü Karayel, Alican Yücesoy, Alican Yücesoy, Bige Önal, Bige Önal, Defne Kayalar, Fatih Artman, Funda Eryiğit, Funda Eryiğit, Öykü Karayel, Settar Tanrıöğen, Settar Tanrıöğen, Tülin Özen, Tülin Özen

Director: Berkun Oya

Rating: Not Rated

After a healing workshop leads her best friend to sell her belongings and move to a remote island, Nisan becomes suspicious a cult is indoctrinating outcasts. But when she's diagnosed with cancer and dark memories haunt her dreams, she seeks the island to find hope and happiness. Nisan's suspicions struggle against her desire to face her past. On the pseudo-utopia island, the idea of safe havens and communities is put to the test forcing Nisan to reckon how isolating living in fear and pain is. With a steady pace, Search stretches the concept of a cult, keeping a refreshingly open mind to all the ways a community with freedom, equality, and care remains unfathomable. 

Genre: Drama

Actor: Aslı Enver, Begüm Akkaya, Defne Kayalar, Erol Babaoğlu, Mehmet Günsür, Oral Özer, Yigit Akkaya

Director: Emin Alper

Rating: TV-MA