MuSTANG

(Cert 15; 97mins)

MUSTANG won the Audience Award at this year’s Glasgow Film Festival and it is easy to see why. This is the kind of gripping film that really gets under your skin as it draws you into a story of escalating injustice.

Set in rural Turkey, it focuses on the lives of five orphan sisters. On the last day of the school term the girls head to the beach with their male classmates for an afternoon of innocent fun. A disapproving neighbour reports their supposedly unbecoming conduct and their uncle Erol responds by placing them under virtual house arrest and free from “instruments of corruption”. The uncle’s plan seems to involve keeping each girl pure until a suitable marriage can be arranged.

Playful teenage rebellion becomes a fight for survival as the girls face a family determined to mould them into compliant young women. The story of lives restricted by conservative beliefs is a human tragedy that unfolds with the pace and momentum of a thriller.

As you become caught up in the plight of each girl, Mustang takes you to the edge of your seat.