'One-Way For Tomorrow': Netflix's first original Turkish film is a pleasant watch despite 'Before' trilogy vibes
Spoilers for 'One-Way to Tomorrow'
Netflix has so far given its audience three successful Turkish original series, 'The Protector', 'The Gift', and 'Love 101'. This year, the streaming service has released its first original movie from Turkey, titled 'One-Way to Tomorrow' which stars Metin Akdulger ('The Gift') and Dilan Cicek Deniz ('Çukur'). Metin Akdulger plays Ali while Dilan Cicek Deniz plays Leyla, two strangers who meet on a ten-hour long train journey from Ankara to Izmir. Both of them are headed to Urla, a town in Turkey, but they have a rough start. When Ali boards the train and enters his train compartment, he is confused. Leyla is already seated inside, though Ali had booked all four seats of the compartment for himself and his friends. Leyla, meanwhile, mistakenly books a ticket for the next day, but she has to reach Urla by then and so boards the train anyway. While Leyla seems a little hot-tempered and Ali seems a little invasive at first, both of them get talking -- they have ten hours to get through after all. Moreover, Ali also helps placate the conductor in letting Leyla stay, even though it is against the rules for an unmarried man and woman to travel together.
As they get talking, both Leyla and Ali realize they are going to Urla for a wedding. Ali wants to break up the wedding — the bride, Burch used to be his girlfriend. Ali wants to convince her that she’s making a mistake and he is confident that Burcu will leave her wedding for him. We also later learn that Burcu is Leyla's friend and that Leyla is headed to the same wedding. It turns out that Berke, the man Burcu is marrying, used to date Leyla and he, in fact, cheated on Leyla with Burcu. When Leyla received Burcu's and Berke's wedding card, they were still going out. Ali also comes to realize he has heard of Leyla through Burcu. Over the next few hours, the two exchange stories about this couple we never meet in the movie, and both Leyla and Ali experience rage, disappointment, and sorrow over their respective relationships. However, the two characters form a bond over their ten-hour long journey, culminating in them predictably sleeping together. While they initially go their separate ways, by the end of the film, Leyla catches up with Ali and they both walk away together.
As expected, 'One-Way to Tomorrow' gives off major 'Before' trilogy vibes -- the movie significantly just features the conversation between the two leading characters. However, unlike the 'Before' trilogy, the characters are connected in the Turkish film and so, most of the conversation revolves around their mutual. 'One-Way to Tomorrow' is a pleasant and charming movie. If you are a big fan of the 'Before' trilogy, you may not be the movie's biggest fan; however, the Turkish film does have something to offer. As the train makes through a visually stunning Turkey, we get drawn into Leyla's and Ali's stories and hope they do find the happiness they are looking for and deserve. The performances are pleasant to watch -- Metin Akdulger especially deserves to be commended for bringing out Ali's pain.
'One-Way to Tomorrow' is now streaming on Netflix.