Overview: A Sober, Sun-Drenched Masterpiece of Class and Nostalgia
Winner of the Golden Tulip for Best Film at the Istanbul Film Festival, Ümit Ünal’s "Love, Spells and All That" (2019) (Aşk, Büyü vs.) is one of the most vital, grounded entries in modern Turkish queer cinema. Set on the picturesque, motor-free island of Büyükada near Istanbul, the film uses a single-day reunion to explore how class privilege, societal repression, and time alter the weight of romantic obsession.
Ünal deliberately strips away melodrama, delivering a naturalistic walk-and-talk character study that measures the painful distance between romantic idealization and practical survival.
The Narrative Setup
Twenty years after a forced separation, two women re-encounter each other on the island where their adolescent romance was violently dismantled by family politics and social hierarchy.
The Reunion: Eren (Ece Dizdar), the wealthy daughter of a prominent politician who was shipped off to boarding school in Europe after their affair was discovered, returns to Büyükada. She tracks down her teenage love, Reyhan (Selen Uçer), hoping to pick up where they left off.
The Conflict: Reyhan, the daughter of the former estate caretaker, bore the brunt of the scandal's social fallout. Now living a modest, precarious life, she greets Eren's grand romantic declarations with guarded skepticism, convinced that Eren’s sudden return is not true love, but the work of a talismanic love spell she cast as a desperate teenager.
The Journey: To indulge Reyhan's belief—or perhaps to prolong their time together—the two embark on a day-long trek across the island to find a way to break the spell, confronting two decades of unspoken resentment, class disparities, and lingering desire.
Sensational Lead Performances: Selen Uçer and Ece Dizdar give masterful, grounded performances. Uçer’s portrayal of Reyhan’s weary defense mechanisms perfectly balances Dizdar’s earnest, sheltered persistent hope.
Class Subtext: Ünal keeps class dynamics central; Eren treats the island as a playground of romantic memory, while Reyhan navigates it as a physical space of economic survival and social stigma.
Intimate Direction: Filmed with low-budget minimalism, natural lighting, and long uninterrupted takes, the film lets the dialogue and the physical movement across the island carry the psychological weight.
The Verdict
Love, Spells and All That is a quiet, profoundly mature exploration of queer love, class power, and memory. Ümit Ünal crafts an authentic Turkish indie that avoids easy romantic answers in favor of deep emotional truth.
Final Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2 (4.5/5) – A deeply moving, impeccably acted Turkish drama that handles romance, class, and memory with exquisite nuance.
