Certainly no Turkish delights to be found here
You Do You is a Turkish romantic drama, one that blends a forbidden romance, gen Z values and some fourth wall breaking comedy akin to Ally McBeal. Unfortunately, it’s all a bit naff and forgettable. At its worst, this film actually has some awful moral lessons and it leans so hard into its stereotypes that you’ll struggle to actually rally behind any of these people – especially our snot-nosed, spoilt protagonist, who takes a long time to become halfway likable.
That woman happens to be 24 year old Merve. She’s a wild-child; a lay-about who doesn’t have a job, has big ideas about the world and laments her mother for not being strong enough to divorce her father. She hates capitalism and wants to “stick it to the man”. She also has big dreams of becoming a fashion icon, while simultaneously admitting she doesn’t really want to work all that hard. Oh, and she’s also building up her social media profile too.
When her mother receives an eviction notice, Merve’s world comes to an end because she’s going to have to go and get a job. Oh, the humanity! After turning her nose up at various different entry-level positions, she ends up in a chance encounter with big-time hotshot Anil Gürman, a businessman who owns his own company and seems to have a thing for Merve.
Merve pitches an idea for a new app called Soulmates with her friends, and Anil agrees to take them under his wing. As for Merve, she’s promoted to working for the fashion company itself. Only, Anil has his own plans to ice her out, owing to a dark past. How will he keep his emotions in check? And will a forbidden romance blossom?
Across the 90 minute run-time, You do You follows the usual clichés you’d expect and in the process, will test your patience as Merve slowly starts to warm toward audiences. Her snarky comments do continue throughout the movie, but to be fair she does actually roll her sleeves up and start working.
Unfortunately, the narrative never follows through with that thread, as good luck and big coincidences collide to essentially give Merve what she wants, having learned very little by the time her arc comes to a close.
It’s worth pointing that out because the final 15 minutes or so, feel incredibly rushed and actually undo a fair amount of work done earlier on to Merve’s character. And to make matters worse, the romance isn’t particularly endearing either.
The style of this movie just doesn’t quite work. There’s clearly a desire to try and blend in ideas seen in The Devil Wears Prada but Merve’s character is so far removed from Hathaway’s plucky, down-and-out protagonist that the execution fails. And what’s more ironic is her earlier comments about society and her place in the world, absolutely comes back to bite her in the end!
Ultimately, You Do You is a misfiring Turkish drama that tries to be romantic and dramatic, and misses on both accounts. This one’s not outright awful, but it’s certainly very underwhelming. Given how cliched and predictable the story is, coupled with the way these characters are portrayed, you should probably skip this one.
Read More: You Do You Ending Explained
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Verdict - 3.5/10
3.5/10