Chokehold Review: Starring Kivanç Tatlitug, Funda Eryigit, Gürgen Öz, Onur Akgülgil, Kerem Arslanoglu, Müge Bayramoglu, Hayat Van Eck, Nadi Güler, Ulas Tuzak and Görkem Kenanoglu, alongside other cast members, this film is directed by Onur Saylak. Hakan Gunday joins the crew as the writer, while Kerem Çatay is the producer of this film. Feza Çaldiran and Ali Aga join as the cinematographer and editor, respectively.
The film follows a man and his wife escaping scandal from Istanbul to a small village on the Aegean coast. Chokehold, also known as Boga Boga, is a Turkish film that runs for 112 minutes.
– The Chokehold Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
While the premise sounds really generic, the film takes quite an absurd turn at the beginning itself. It emulates all the psychological thriller charm of a film located in a small town. Everyone knows each other, everyone looks out for each other, and outsiders are bound to be sceptical of new people coming in. While this in itself could have carried on to some dark and grim stuff, it was mostly left tame until a single moment tried to push to another height.
Meanwhile, the boredom of watching this film is already getting to the viewers because there is nothing worse than watching something done averagely well. If it’s terrible, hate-watching is fun. If it’s great, then you can watch it without any constraints, but the fact that this film has almost nothing remarkable about it makes it so hard to go through. Every moment that creates anticipation is ended with such bland climaxes that the film never manages to pick up the pace.
Within the story’s narrative, the relationships are built with such abandon that there is almost nothing appealing about this married couple. They are supposed to be a partnership, which doesn’t come through as the story progresses, even when a sudden shift is supposed to change their dynamic. There are so many ways to make these characters good, and they haven’t tried at all. The actors are so good at what they do too, but it was like their talents weren’t allowed to come to the fore because the script doesn’t entail that.
However, props to the cinematographer, who had managed to save the shards of this mangled film. The visuals are absolutely stunning, and the lack of sound in some of the shots does really well to explore just how deranged the male protagonist got as time passed by. In general, Chokehold as a title is also great because the series of events that transpire all happen because a chokehold lit the fuse. After this, all hell breaks loose, and something snaps in the main character.
Whom we know exactly nothing about. His wife’s character tries to make a definitive statement about his personality in the film, but there is such a lack of context throughout the film that it doesn’t even make sense when she says it. None of these characters has depth, and their storylines lack some motivation and detail. Even the end takes such a dubious turn for the worst in terms of character arc that it ruins everything it built in the beginning, continuing to the middle.
There was a lot of potential for this film to have been good, but it missed out on various counts, mostly because of the terrible writing. The premise is interesting, the location and aesthetics are cool, and the cinematography is absolutely fantastic. Since the writing and the story ruin the rest, it becomes difficult to root for Chokehold.
Chokehold Review: Final Thoughts
This writer would not suggest someone spend 112 minutes on this film. It is not well written, not well explored or interesting in the least. It takes itself too seriously and doesn’t deliver on that kind of promise either. Moreover, the female character is a cardboard cutout left eventually in the film as a tool to move the story forward, not as the person driving a part of it. Even if she weren’t there, it would have been fine.
Additionally, it also seemed like all the people in this small town are constructed through the lens of someone who has never lived in a small town because the way their ideologies manifest in this film is completely devoid of any kind of community approach and instead focuses on some arbitrary ruthlessness that these characters are handed. In short, this film is better not being watched because it is average in the worst way possible.
Chokehold is currently streaming on Netflix. What did you think of this Turkish thriller? Let us know in the comments below.
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