Mustang

Early summer in a village in Northern Turkey. Five free-spirited teenaged sisters splash about on the beach with their male classmates. Though their games are merely innocent fun, a neighbour reports what she considers to be illicit behaviour to the girls’ family. The family over-reacts, removing all “instruments of corruption” like mobile phones and computers, and essentially imprisoning the girls, subjecting them to endless lessons in cookery and housework in preparation for them to become brides. As the eldest sisters are married off, the younger ones bond together to avoid the same fate. The fierce love between them empowers them to rebel and chase a future where they can determine their own lives in Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s debut, a powerful portrait of female empowerment.