School’s just out, and five orphan sisters join their male classmates for a boisterously innocent beachside frolic. The immorality of their play sets off a scandal after a neighbor passes by and reports what she considers to be illicit behavior. Now family is just like a jail...
Ergüven isn't peddling blind optimism so much as a realism animated by the belief that freedom-far from being inevitable-must be fought for. That it will be fought for.
The story isn't particularly original, but Mustang's achievement is to criticize a society that sexualizes everything women do while still celebrating the girls' sexuality.
Part of a welcome international wave of films made by women directors that focus on girls growing up in worlds of men - and on what they look like when no one's looking.
The plot pacing never falters, and at a running length of only ninety minutes, its ability to pull the audience into the world and align them with the characters with such immediacy and poignancy is impressive.
That there are five sisters allows Erguven to explore the scenario's several possible outcomes, be it happy ending or tragedy or the bittersweet fates in between.
