Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 97 minutes
“Mustang” is an internationally co-produced drama film directed by Turkish-French director Ergüven. The film depicts the lives of five young orphaned sisters and the challenges they face growing up as girls in a conservative society. The event that triggers the family backlash against the five sisters at the beginning of the film is based on Ergüven’s personal life.
Early summer in a remote 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 neighbor passes by and reports what she considers to be illicit behavior to the girls’ family. The family overreacts, removing all “instruments of corruption,” like cell phones and computers, and essentially imprisoning the girls, subjecting them to endless lessons in 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 Ergüven’s debut, a powerful portrait of female empowerment.

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