Magazine writer Sahra has returned to her grandmother's home in a sleepy seaside village. There she immediately butts heads with childhood neighbour Deniz. But unbeknownst to either, their grandmothers called them back home specifically to try setting them up. This has mixed success, with the two becoming even angrier at each-other. But this only paves the way for their true feelings to come out...
Sen İnandır (Make Me Believe) is your typical Turkish rom-com. You already know the plot going in, but look forward to seeing it play out all the same. What we have here is the typical story of a boy and girl who hate each-other, which as we all know automatically means romance! We make fun of this trope, but I'm a sucker for it anyway. We want our romance films to have a bit of conflict in them, and what better adversity can you have than two people actively disliking each-other? It makes it all the more satisfying when they fall head over heels. And it also keeps things from getting to sappy. After all, I don't actually like regular romance films!
The story here is very basic, by and large a character piece. We're introduced to the setting and leads surprisingly quickly, so much so I thought I'd sat on the remote and skipped a scene. The setting is a small and fairly intimate one, and it never gets boring, even if a little more would've been nice.
The film is well-written, and everything comes off believably enough. Although the dialogue is a little bad at times. Maybe it reads better in Turkish, but Sahra's line about her parents in particular felt clumsily written.
Sahra is an ok lead. She cares about her career, and about showing up her asshole coworker, but also isn't stubborn when faced with her changing feelings. In fact she's a bit too quick to leave it all behind, making her colleagues feel a bit thrown under the bus! Deniz meanwhile is a cool and collected guy with a mysterious side. But man can he hold a grudge! The way he goes on about it, you'd think Sahra really did something bad. So to find out that all she did was invite a couple of friends to their hideaway, it felts like such basic high school nonsense! This is what you're still mad about 15 years later?!
The romance is well-handled. Despite her attempts at disinterest, it's Sahra who tries getting the ball rolling at first, with acts of spontaneity, which always seem to end in disaster. Although part of the blame is on Deniz for being a wet blanket! Still, in this modern world of ours it's hard to just push people in bodies of water, what with phones, keys, and whatever. Eventually he reciprocates, and there's a big cheesy moment where they kiss for the first time.
The friends of the leads are a nice pair, and much more likeable! Ahu is a spunky girl, friendly, and pragmatic. While Ulaş is a respectful and fun-loving guy. They soon develop their own rapport, and figure out what's going on fairly quickly.
The rest of the supporting cast are good. Namely there are the two grannies, who are cute, and amuse with their matchmaking shenanigans, and old lady tricks. Unfortunately they completely disappear about an hour in. I kept waiting for them to show up again, but the
moment never came, not even in the ending back on the island. Disappointing.
As the film goes on I was surprised by the lack of conflict. I thought I could see what was brewing into the eventual third act drama, but it didn't seem to happen, and I wondered if the movie was taking a more casual approach. Sure enough though, the conflict does inevitably come, which is probably for the best.
It's Sahra's coworker who shows up to cause trouble, and that's what confused me. Deniz already seemed to know about her photoshoot and bet. But he didn't, and breaks things off with Sahra. Leading her to win her back, and do what she feels is the right thing with the story. It's fairly satisfying stuff, and both parties come together to kiss and make up. The ending's a little sudden, but it's not like there's much else to show.
Onto the cast, Ayça Ayşin Turan and Ekin Koç are good leads, even when their characters are being dopes. While Çağrı Çıtanak and Çağla Irmak are good co-stars, with the latter being particularly cute! And Yıldız Kültür and Zerrin Sümer are fun as the little old ladies, and I was disappointed they never got a final scene.
I know I mention the visuals in modern Turkish movies a lot (I wonder if the tourism board will take note!), but here they're really good! The Greek adjacent coastal setting is captured well, with gorgeous wide and aerial shots, and the film ends on a particularly dazzling one!
The music here is fairly decent stuff, and could have come from any other modern Turkish film, but it sounds pleasant enough, and fits the mood and scenery.
Sen İnandır isn't anything special as far as story goes. In fact it's almost insultingly simple. But it makes this clear going in, and delivers a fun time, and a good way of killing 90 minutes. Can't go wrong with that!...
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