Mustang

Oops, just missed it! This film is no longer available on Netflix streaming or DVD. If by chance you have a craving for a French-Turkish version of Sofia Coppola's Virgin Suicides, you're in luck.

Last year's Mustang, directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, is now on Netflix, and it gives new meaning to the present generation of women not appreciating their great grandmother's suffrage movement.  

A story of strength, coupled with feminine resignation, Mustang features a graceful gaggle of adolescent sisters, who dance across the screen until they are essentially put on house arrest by their conservative and paranoid grandmother, who finds out that they've been playing with young companions of the opposite sex.  

The beautifully shot film, filled with playful melancholy and an incomplex soundtrack brings to light the hopeless destinies of young women hailing from countries like Turkey, but one finds inspiration in the youngest heroine and sister, Lale (Günes Sensoy). As she sees her older sisters married off one by one, she conspires to not suffer the same fate.  

The love and togetherness the sisters face through oppression and the fearless ambition demonstrated by little Lale is a celebratory and inspiring way to spend your weekend. Crank up the A.C., grill up some kebabs and stay in one of these nights to watch the thought provoking and poetic film, Mustang, winner of four Césars at the 2016 César Awards.

Nicole Eicholtz

Click here to read all of our reviews of French movies available on Netflix and our updated list of the best French films on Netflix   

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