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Azizler

Stuck Apart (Azizler)

Movie · 2021 · 4 people

Durul and Yağmur Taylan, known as the Taylan Brothers, directed Azizler, released internationally as Stuck Apart, a 2021 Turkish black comedy and drama. It runs about 96 minutes. Berkun Oya co-wrote the script with the directors; producers include Hülya Duyar, Müge Kolat and Barış Ayaztaş. Engin Günaydın, Haluk Bilginer and Binnur Kaya head the cast. Imaj International was to release it in cinemas on 2 October 2020, but the pandemic cancelled that and it went to Netflix on 8 January 2021.

At its center is Aziz, a man nearing middle age who has drifted from the career he dreamed of and works at a job he dislikes. Home brings no peace either: his sister's family has moved in and his unruly nephew Caner turns the house upside down. He feels his four-year relationship with Burcu has run its course and longs to be alone. Then an opportunity appears, but taking it means telling a lie and keeping it up, and the consequences change his life in ways he never wanted.

Öner Erkan, İrem Sak, Fatih Artman, İlker Aksum, Bergüzar Korel and Halit Ergenç are also in the ensemble. The Taylan Brothers' earlier Vavien (2009) also starred Engin Günaydın, and critics measured the new film against it. Production began in autumn 2019.

DirectorDurul Taylan, Yağmur Taylan
NetworkNetflix
Stuck Apart (Azizler)

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Cast

İlker Aksum İlker Aksum Actor · 55 years old Riza Fatih Artman Fatih Artman Actor · 38 years old Okan Yalabık Okan Yalabık Actor · 47 years old Öner Erkan Öner Erkan Actor · 46 years old

Titles sharing this cast

Through different eyes

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

It is billed as a black comedy, so it is not the kind of comedy for the whole household. Aziz's life starts to revolve around a lie, and much of the humour comes from that. Adults may see a bit of themselves in it: a crowded home, a naughty nephew, a job you do not love. Young children may not get dark humour. Since it is on Netflix, let the grown-ups watch first and then decide whether it suits the teenagers.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

The Taylan Brothers reuniting with Engin Günaydın made it inevitable that critics would compare the film with Vavien. Berkun Oya's share in the script promises a tone that uses dark comedy to capture the cramped feeling of everyday life. Aziz, nearing middle age, stuck in a job he does not like and unable to be alone even in his own home, is a productive character for the genre. A lie that grows until it takes over a life is a familiar dramatic engine, though; the film's worth depends on how freshly it runs it. My reservation is that the pattern has become rather well worn in Turkish black comedy. On the plus side, 96 minutes is good news: the story has no room to sprawl. Haluk Bilginer and Binnur Kaya add weight to the cast.

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

The hero who tells one lie and then has to keep it going was a situation Yeşilçam comedies loved too; there, things were usually tied up with a sweet smile. Azizler takes the same situation in a more bittersweet, darker comic key. Having a solid actor like Haluk Bilginer in the cast pleases me. Still, wherever I sense cynicism I keep my distance, and the warmth I look for may be in shorter supply here. The chaos of a crowded family home, though, is nothing unfamiliar to us.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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