You Do You Review: Also known as Merve Kült, it is a Turkish romantic drama film directed by Cemal Alpan. The film is based on the novel Merve Kült-Bir Çöküş ve Diriliş Öyküsü by Ceylan Naz Baycan, which literally translates to – Merve Cult – A Story of Collapse and Resurrection. It is produced by Mine Yilmaz and has a runtime of about 1 hour and 39 minutes.
The ensemble cast of the film includes Ahsen Eroğlu, Ozan Dolunay, Zuhal Olcay, Ferit Aktuğ, Esra Akkaya, Arif Pişkin, Ege Aydan, Sevgi Burcu Türünz, Levent Meşe, Mine Tugay and several others.
The story follows Merve, who has a degree in Business but wants to become a fashion designer. She has been trying to find a job but the strict environment of the corporate world cannot bind her down. Leyla Madrali is an Editor of a famous fashion magazine, where Merve dreams of working but her inability to convince recruiters about her potential, leads her nowhere.
Even when she gets a chance encounter with Leyla, she blows it with her silly comments and even finds her boyfriend cheating on her. Turned down from every aspect of her life, a new problem stands in front of her when an eviction notice to vacate the whole apartment building comes her way. The building actually belonged to her father but he sold it under the pressure of debt & now they have no choice but to move out. But Merve has other plans & hopes to buy the building back before the moving day.
Like the light at the end of the tunnel, a saviour in the form of Anil Gurman lands at her step. Not only does he invest in her startup dating app idea with her friends, he even offers her a job in his fashion department. But little does she know that it’s all a big part of a plan, that can only hurt Merve and everyone that she loves.
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The idea of a dating app, where people will be wearing animal masks on their profile and find their soulmate without ever knowing what they exactly look like, is not a bad idea. Not sure how the logistics of sending every person who signs up a mask works, but it will certainly make people more comfortable to put themselves on the apps without fearing judgement on their appearance. There could be an app like this somewhere, if not, it will be great if someone makes one.
Apart from that, Ozan Dolunay’s character – Anil, is supposed to be this cold person driven by revenge. But on screen, he looks kinda soft, right from the start. It is a linear story with not much that would hook you. Even the conclusion is so anti-climactic and somewhat absurd. The scene of Anil sitting on a cliff with a Chinese Monk looks so out of place & unnecessary. The creators tried to give his character an edge by associating him with all these things like he spent his childhood in China & meditates in his free time etc, but it could have been done away with.
The main conflict was the revenge which never even plays out. If there’s something that one could relate to, then it’s Merve’s character trying to step into the corporate world. The struggle to wake up & show up on time, to the place that only wants to exploit you was quite realistic and definitely touched a nerve. Also, the creative use of breaking the fourth wall to express her inner thoughts was some of the hilarious bits.
You Do You Review
The film lacks a hooking element that would hold the viewer till the end. The story had so much potential and could have gone in so many ways, but the creators have presented such a linear or watered-down version that it doesn’t feel exciting enough. Anil’s character has to be the weakest and if only there were more layers to him that would bring actual conflict in the story, it would have been so much better. Overall, it’s a lighthearted watch that one can tune into as a background sound, while mindlessly scrolling through your phone.
Rating: 2/5
You Do You is currently streaming on Netflix.
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