'Grudge' Review: Netflix crime drama is a Turkish delight for everyone

The Turkish movie is a fast-paced crime drama that keeps you at the edge of your seats with slick writing and great acting
A still from the Turkish movie 'Grudge' (Netflix)
A still from the Turkish movie 'Grudge' (Netflix)

When Bong Joon-Ho won the Best Director award for the South Korean movie ‘Parasite’ last year at the Academy Awards, he said that when people overcome the one-inch barrier of subtitles, they will be introduced to so many more amazing films and that’s why a lot of production companies have been taking interest in foreign movies these days.

Netflix has a knack for treating its viewers with amazing international projects. Ventures such as ‘The Father who Moves Mountains’, ‘Ganglands’, and ‘Forever Rich’ have already done wonders for the streaming platform and its latest offering ‘Grudge’ seems to be following the same route. The Turkish movie, originally titled 'Kin', revolves around a Chief Inspector named Harun (Yilmaz Erdogan), who has just been awarded a police officer of the year award for her service. His entire team is really happy and celebrates with him. After a nice dinner, Harun sits inside a taxi and is actually heading home. Just then, we see that the cab driver has abducted him and taking him somewhere else.

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The driver takes him to a secluded area and wants to kill him. However, a fight takes place and the cab driver is accidentally killed by Chief Inspector Harun. After that, the movie is all about Harun trying to clear his name from the case. However, things get upside down when he finds himself deep inside a conspiracy. The best thing this movie does is that it keeps viewers at the edge of their seats at every moment. Whenever we are introduced to a new situation, it all leads up to that one scenario that changed everything.

Yilmaz Erdogan as Chief Inspector Harun in 'Grudge' (Netflix)

The story is all about taking revenge and ending the cycle of grudges. Director Turkay Derya has done a phenomenal job in creating a world that makes us realize that everyone has a dark past and there will be a time when they would have to pay for it. The biggest strength of the movie is its story. The writing is slick and the writers haven’t gone out of the way to stuff the movie with a lot of things that viewers can lose the track of.

As far as acting is concerned, Yilmaz Erdogan is simply brilliant as Harun. Whenever he wants into a scene, you feel like this role is just made for him and no one could have done it better than him. Erdogan is undoubtedly the standout performer and he knocks it out of the park with a gritty performance. On the other hand, Ruzagar Aksoy and Ahmet Mumtaz Taylan gave impeccable performances as Yadigar and Cevat.

A still from the movie 'Grudge' (Netflix)

Duygu Sarasin may have had a smaller role in the movie, but as soon as she makes an appearance things get even more interesting in the movie. She plays the character of Gul with radiance and even though she is one of the baddies, you will surely love her and would want her to stay alive till the end. Another knockout performance comes from a young actor named Cem Yegit Uzumoglu (Tuncay). Now, he’s the one to watch out for and the secret he is hiding in the movie will absolutely blow your mind.

Duygu Sarasin as Gul in 'Grudge' (Netflix)

‘Grudge’ is a stellar addition to Netflix’s international catalog and people would definitely have more interest in Turkish movies after watching this crime drama. All in all, a brilliantly made movie by Derya and a Turkish delight for the viewers.

‘Grudge’ (Turkish name: ‘Kin’) is currently streaming on Netflix.

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