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Don't Leave (2022)
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Netflix’s Don’t Leave begins at the end. The partnership between a Turkish couple comes to an abrupt end with Defne simply walks out on Semih with little in the way of warning signs. It’s up to the heartbroken Semih to sort through the debris and piece together what went wrong. But is a relationship a puzzle that can be solved so simply? Can missing parts be replaced?
DON’T LEAVE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Semih (Burak Deniz) is a charming, albeit somewhat chaotic, young professional artist who gets a startling wake-up call when his girlfriend Defne (Dilan Çiçek Deniz) abruptly cuts bait on their live-in romance. This unexpected development sends him spiraling — hello bleached blonde hair — both outwardly into self-satisfaction and inwardly into self-reflection. As he tries to move forward throughout Don’t Leave, director Ozan Açiktan’s edit keeps plunging Semih backward as he plays out the highlight reel of his relationship trying to pinpoint where it all went wrong. While he seeks some single event or big mistake, Defne eventually makes him realize a much more mundane truth about love. The absence of tension does not always mean the presence of a deep, meaningful connection.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Though it’s different in tone, there’s virtually no way to watch Don’t Leave without thinking of (500) Days of Summer. From their starting points at the end of a relationship to the self-flagellating male lead attempting to perform an autopsy in real-time – all while the film cross-cuts to their moments of joy – the story beats share remarkable similarities. (Heck, Semih’s doodling even resembles the architectural scrawling of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom.) But Don’t Leave mostly abandons the “com” part of “rom-com,” substituting sensuality for silliness.
Performance Worth Watching: Burak Deniz has to hold virtually every scene in Don’t Leave, and he does so with some really screen-commanding presence. The film slices his performance to bits, re-constructing continuity in favor of swinging emotions rather than chronological time. He’s compelling throughout as he radiates charisma in Semih’s highest of highs and proves a tantalizing trainwreck in his lowest of lows. Deniz sells every twist with confidence, and that makes all the difference.
Memorable Dialogue: “What do you want to know?” Defne asks Semih in a heated post-breakup shouting match. He replies, “I don’t know what I want to know!” It’s a moment of certainty in uncertainty that perfectly sums up the reeling sensation of a relationship ending without resolution.
Sex and Skin: While there’s nothing too extended or explicit, Don’t Leave certainly gets steamy. The film does not shy away from showing the passionate throes of puppy love at the beginning of Semih and Defne’s relationship where they can barely keep off each other. It also provides plenty of opportunities to see him flailing for any kind of amorous connection after she leaves, be it a hot and heavy bathroom make-out session during a party or a ham-fisted attempt to seduce his realtor during an apartment showing.
Our Take: The way that Don’t Leave so single-mindedly centers one half of its whole leads to a kind of suffocating solipsism. Ozan Açiktan traps us in the perspective of Semih as he tries to restabilize, and thanks to Burak Deniz’s tenacious performance, the film works as a character study. But that myopic focus comes with its limitations, which become especially apparent when Açiktan tries to make any larger point about love and relationships. All the other characters are as thinly developed as paper dolls, and that one-dimensionality makes the film feel incomplete and a little less satisfying than it should when it tries to open outward.
Our Call: SKIP IT! While Burak Deniz gives a true leading man turn in Don’t Leave, the film itself is little to write home about. Ozan Açiktan masks some of the banality with clever cutting between timelines, such as weaving together a present of Semih watching pornography alone in bed with a past of Dafne rolling around in it with him. Still, there’s not as much substance to back up the style. Cinematically deconstructing a relationship is nothing new or novel, and the film has little in the way of insightful observations to add to a well-worn genre.
Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, Little White Lies and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is aboutSpring Breakers.
- Don't Leave (2022)
- Netflix
- Ozan Açiktan
- Stream It Or Skip It