Hacer (Hatice Aslan), a Turkish woman, wonders about the source of the drops of blood on her floor. As it turns out, they’re from her troubled son Ismail (Ahmet Rıfat Şungar), arriving from wherever he was at. These characters belong within Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Three Monkeys, about a family that just can’t catch a break. It all starts when Hatice’s husband Eyip (Yavuz Bingöl) takes the fall for Servet’s (Ercan Kesal) crime. Eyip works for Servet, a rich politician, and the latter offers the former’s salary to his struggling family.

A possible silver lining to this deal is that Eyip spends a seemingly long nine months in jail. The salary doesn’t really help, as Ismail applies to train for lowly jobs and then stops showing up. He technically isn’t guilty of the crime, but Three Monkeys physically and visually manifests his guilt by association. Eyip eventually gets out, but freedom means many things, like finding out about Hacer’s illicit affair with Servet. Eyip and his family deal with their circumstances, feeling like they’re in a cycle of static violence.

The film, mostly a borderline Eureasian neo-noir, shows its viewers different aesthetic choices, some working better than others. Dark cinematography has apparently been a thing since the late 2000s, world cinema following the trend. There is, thankfully, a body to the colours then and that’s true with Three Monkeys as well. Now that the compliments are out of the way, let’s discuss what didn’t work, like attempts of magic realism. Symbolism is inherently malleable, but the ghostly boy showing up during certain scenes feels more like a gimmick.

There’s also something about the one bedroom scene between Eyip and Hacer that contemporary viewers may not like. My opinion is more in the middle, although my response to bedroom scenes in world cinema is a landmine of opinions. I can also feel the trust between Aslan and Bingol even if the final product still feels undercooked. It’s both undercooked and long, as if it exists just to make Hacer suffer more than what’s necessary. Her developing feeling for both Eyip and Servet is also a choice but I’ve had situations like that.

The characters in Three Monkeys have two choices after Eyip finally finishes his nine month long prison sentence. Either they stay in a state of shock or they actually do something to break their toxic cycles. A slower pace can mean death for films but Blige Ceylan, thank God, actually makes them work. Most cinephiles know that these moments lead up to something and the supporting characters put their work in. A film of opposites, Three Monkeys is an early work of someone who lives up to his potential.

Three Monkeys comes soon on OVID.