In the new Turkish film Afloat, a family gathers for a cruise. Sister Zaynep flies in from America with her American husband, Stephen. Younger sister Yasemin is mopey and obstinate. Father Yusuf is a charismatic journalist who attracts fans wherever he goes. The cruise is his idea: while waiting to hear whether he will be jailed for his reporting, he wants the family together to take a relaxing trip "one last time."
It's anything but relaxing. Though they bask in sunshine and eat luscious food, tension roils under the surface. Yasemin envies her sister's lifestyle and that she moved away at all. Mom Alev remains cooly aloof. Zeynep gets little support for her nascent career as a documentary filmmaker. Stephen complains that she "likes the idea of being married more than the reality of it." Stephen's also concerned that his passport has been stolen and that his wife is off her meds.
While this crew island-hops among blue skies, open water, and ruins, they trade barbs and pointed silences. Secrets are revealed. Feelings are hurt and betrayed. Father is the fulcrum, but Afloat belongs to its women and their struggle loving a "political freedom warrior." They pose and kvetch and rebuff their father's advice to just enjoy the time. "Is it only you whose mistakes have to be tolerated?" one asks.
Afloat's scenery is lovely, and its cast is attractive. Nihan Aker as Zaynep is model-elegant, while Elit Iscan's Yasemin is pretty and pouty. Serhat Ünaldi (the director's father), as Yusuf, is the picture of stability, even as everything falls apart around him. Oscar Pearce's Stephen is clearly incongruent with his pale complexion, red hair, and inexperience with the language. (The characters alternate between Turkish and English with acuity). Lila Gürmen plays reticent Alev with poise.
Writer/director Aslihan Unaldi was born in Turkey and is now based in Brooklyn. She teaches at Columbia University and NYU. She is also known for her previous feature, the environmental documentary Overdrive (2011). Not many films in Turkey are made from a woman's perspective. Ms. Unaldi seeks to rectify that.
Aslihan Unaldi lets the exotic locales and pretty people do the work. Granted, the deck of a boat doesn't offer many possibilities for camera angles unless the limited floor plan becomes claustrophobic. She manages to cull some stirring sequences: an interlude through island ruins, the sisters dancing to silent music in their earbuds, Yasemin biting ravenously into pomegranates.
As sumptuous and watchable as Afloat is, these characters don't learn much. If a narrative quest is structured to take characters through conflict and bring them self-knowledge, these folks remain predictably themselves. For all the potential built into these fictional (maybe autobiographical?) characters, they are pretty much the same at the end as when they cast off.
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Afloat. Directed by Aslihan Unaldi. 2024. 115 minutes