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And the Rest Will Follow (O da Bir Şey mi)

And the Rest Will Follow (O da Bir Şey mi)

Movie · 2025 · 9 people

Pelin Esmer wrote and directed O da Bir Şey mi (And the Rest Will Follow), a drama from 2025. A co-production between Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, it premiered in Rotterdam and then won an award in competition at the Istanbul Film Festival. Running about 114 minutes, it brings two people from very different worlds together in a quiet story where reality and imagination blur.

At one end of the story is Levent, a well-known director living in Istanbul, played by Timuçin Esen. He is invited to the Söke Film Festival and stays in a hotel. At the other end is Aliye, a young woman born and raised in Söke who works as a housekeeper in that same hotel, played by Merve Asya Özgür. Their lives intertwine, and as Aliye tells her story it grows harder to tell what happened from what is invented. The cast also includes İpek Bilgin, Nur Sürer, Mehmet Kurtuluş, Şebnem Hassanisoughi and Asiye Dinçsoy.

The film premiered on February 1, 2025 at the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam. The first screening in Turkey came on April 19, 2025, in the Golden Tulip Competition of the 44th Istanbul Film Festival, where the film was also up for Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor and won Best Screenplay.

DirectorPelin Esmer

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Cast

Timuçin Esen Timuçin Esen Actor · 53 years old Levent İpek Bilgin İpek Bilgin Actor · 70 years old Nigâr Nur Sürer Nur Sürer Actor · 72 years old Gülistan Asiye Dinçsoy Asiye Dinçsoy Actor · 47 years old Mehmet Kurtuluş Mehmet Kurtuluş Actor · 54 years old Lawyer Ahmet Sönmez Şebnem Hassanisoughi Şebnem Hassanisoughi Actor · 40 years old Laçin Ceylan Laçin Ceylan Actor · 60 years old Nilay Erdönmez Nilay Erdönmez Actor · 40 years old Ece Sermet Yeşil Sermet Yeşil Actor · 49 years old Deniz

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Through different eyes

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

In O da Bir Şey mi, Pelin Esmer deliberately blurs the line between reality and fiction. Setting a well-known director who comes from Istanbul to the Söke Film Festival against Aliye, a housekeeper in the same hotel, puts the question of who is telling the story at the film's centre, and a filmmaker portraying a filmmaker adds a self-reflexive layer. Its Best Screenplay award at the Istanbul Film Festival is no surprise, because the structure's real strength lies in the writing. The encounters between Timuçin Esen and Merve Asya Özgür set the film's pulse. On the other hand, 114 minutes of quiet storytelling can at times wear out viewers who take no pleasure in ambiguity; the film treats withholding clear answers as a virtue.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Honestly, this is not my genre. It is a quiet story of almost two hours where reality and imagination mix; no chases, no big danger. But the encounter between the director Levent and the hotel worker Aliye keeps you curious about what really happened. If you like films whose tension comes from questions rather than events, give it a chance; if you are after pace, look elsewhere.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The film brings two separate worlds together in one hotel: a well-known director who lives in Istanbul, and a young woman born and raised in Söke who works there as a housekeeper. The distance between them is not only geographical; class, occupation and the question of whose story is considered worth telling all come into play. Aliye beginning to tell her own story can be read as a move that turns that balance around. Choosing a film festival in a provincial town as the setting also offers a subtle look at the relationship between the cultural world and local life. Esmer does this through quiet observation rather than lecturing.

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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