‘The Things You Kill’ (2025)

Following Ali (Ekin Koç) a man questioning the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of his mother, 'The Things You Kill' covers Ali's investigation as he searches for the truth.

Set in an unnamed town in Turkey, Ali teaches translation and linguistics at a local university. Fearful that his position is in danger of being eliminated, the man also struggles on a personal level, as he visits a fertility clinic to learn his chances of becoming a biological father are very low due to low motility and sperm count.

Choosing to suffer in silence, Ali hides the test results from his wife Hazar (Hazar Ergüçlü). Facing opposition on another front, Ali visits his ailing mother Sakine (Güliz Sirinyan) to bring her groceries, help with chores and help her bathe. Confronting his father Hamit (Ercan Kesal), Ali insists the plumbing is replaced or fixed as Sakine cannot move around and would find it too difficult to use the outhouse. Immediately met with refusal, Hamit dismisses Ali, berating him and effectively shaming him until he leaves.

Explored throughout the film, Ali feels immense pressure and guilt as a result of choosing to study abroad for many years, neglecting his familial duties. Paired with abusive and violent outbursts, Ali's choice to leave due to his father's volatile personality made his decision to return so much harder.

Also tending to an arid ancestral orchard, Ali struggles to revive his garden in the desert. Approached one day by a stranger, Ali hires apparent drifter Reza (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil) to help with reviving the garden.

Initially serving as a voice of reason, Ali soon turns to Reza to confide in him about suspicions he has about his mother's death. Distrusting him, Ali presumes his father killed Sakine, as her death certificate shows the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the back of the head, conflicting with Hamit’s recount of the events, with him stating that he found Sakine lying face down, most likely due to a fall.

The tension escalates quickly and Reza kidnaps Hamit at Ali’s request. The two drive the old man out to the desert to kill him. Burying Hamit in a shallow grave, Ali is unable to reconcile what he has done. As a result of that, Reza chains Ali to a tree in the orchard, and taking his place.

Supplanting himself in Ali’s work, home and every other aspect ‘The Things You Kill’ takes an abstract turn to examine the multifaceted nature of an individual. With no one questioning Reza as Ali, the film rather focuses on the shift in the main character’s personality. Where before Ali was a kind and contemplative individual, Reza is more abrupt, violent and inconsiderate.

The film focuses on exploring two sides of the same individual. With Ali presenting himself as a composed and collected individual with empathy and striving to do better, the shift to Reza after committing an unthinkable act tears the man apart, letting his darker side to dominate his life.

Exploring generational violence, the film peppers the narrative with scenes and instances of passive and active aggression Hamit exhibits towards Ali. Learning from his sisters that Hamit had also hurt Sakine while Ali was abroad compounds the years of abuse he experienced and adds to the guilt he feels toward Sakine. Unable to remain silent after Sakine’s passing, he gives in to the rage and perpetuates the cycle of violence by killing his father.

Revisiting the orchard to give Ali water, Reza is killed by Ali who promptly resumes his life as before, with no one questioning the change. Maintaining an air of mystery through to the end, the film concludes as a sequence of events that Hazar had described to Ali at the opening of the feature. Concluding on an abstract and mysterious note, the ending is very much left open for interpretation, allowing viewers to determine for themselves how uplifting or dreary the finale is.

Taking unexpected turns, ‘The Things You Kill’ doesn’t ask for permission to follow its path, rather expecting the viewer to go along for the journey. Some whiplash-inducing twists are unexpected, but allowing the story to develop at its own pace proves to be the most rewarding, with the protagonist making his way from a repressed and silenced individual to a violent and rage fuelled killer, eventually finding his way back to a more open and honest person.

Ethereal and unpredictable, the film delivers oodles of atmosphere and introspection, which combined with excellent acting from every actor involved results in an unmissable and mind bending drama.

Score: 4/4