LCV - Lütfen Cevap Veriniz (Turkish) [RSVP - Please Respond]

This script was likely written as a play and pretty much plays out like that. A film with just 3 characters in a large room just talking. Sounds boring, isn't it? But trust me it is not. It is such a wordplay. With each of these conversations layers and layers of deceit, truths, lies, friendships, love, relationships all come out. The title LCV is like RSVP in English, which is an interesting title for sure for such a film.

Semih (a pilot) and Ceren (flight attendant) are about to get married. Semi and his best man Mert are spending time getting ready whenever Ceren also walks in saying she needs a break form her family. With the three of them together,   Mert, begins questioning if the couple is really ready for this marriage. He pokes and makes them question fifths is too soon or are they marrying under family pressure. A weird seed gets planted but Mert doesn't stop here. He then asks each of them if they have ever cheated. Of course, both say no, but slowly the players are peeled one after the other. Turns out Semih and Mert have been lovers for 7 years and for Semih this is more of a cover up, who is getting married to Ceren but will continue to be with Mert. Ceren is no saint either. Turns out she has cheated as well a couple of times. Mert continues to push their buttons literally forcing them to not get married so he can be with Semih, but they are both super confused and even with so much drama, they feel obligated to get married and maybe get divorced later. Things get thrown in a spanner, when two of the biggest secrets are revealed. First is that Ceren is pregnant and second is that she has known about Mert and Semih for a while and has just pretended ignorance. This and more secrets threaten this wild rode of a film.

Oh my god!! What a film man. I had no idea what turn the film and the conversation would take and this was just brilliant. I did have an inkling that maybe the friends are gay couple and somehow this will come out but the way Mert approaches one question at a time, asking and forcing the marrying couple to think through is so interesting. They literally do not know each other. But more importantly it raises questions around all of our moralities. There is a scene where Mert says to Ceren that she is ok with Her fiancee cheating on with a man but would not have been with a girl. Because with a man makes it a Semih problem, but with a girl would a Ceren's problem. Stuff like this and ideas around masculinity are also discussed. I was so pleasantly surprised by peeling of layers like an onion. Just when you think, they have discussed a topic through, Mert keeps throwing spanner after spanner. This film is brilliantly directed and acted and the screenplay, direction everything is top notch. It is very easy to get bored with only 3 characters in a room kind of a film, but the proceedings keep you engaged throughout. The three actors are all brilliant. They all go through their motions of dealing with various emotions. For me, Mert stand out. He feels he is the person who is being wronged in all this and his love is being taken away, but is he really so innocent that he chose till the very last moment to bring this issue up? Semih, of course is a closet gay man. He asks for Ceren's forgiveness when it comes out he is gay but is furious when he hears about Ceren's infidelity. So as an audience, you question where his morality lies. And then we have Ceren, the girl who we feel is wronged in this whole thing, but she is no saint either. She has known the truth all along and has still decided to pursue. The film is an excellent example of how complicated we as human beings are and when it comes to judging others and ourselves we use totally different parameters. Great engaging film with good looking actors who can really act. With a runtime of just under 70 minutes, this was really worth the time. (7.5/10)