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‘The Things You Kill’ Review: Family Secrets Cause a Man to Unravel in a Psychologically Intricate Homecoming Drama
In 'The Things You Kill,' premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Iranian writer-director Alireza Khatami unravels a man returning to his homeland.
Late in the incisive psychological drama “ The Things You Kill,” Ali (Ekin Koç), a married man in his thirties, opens up about a traumatic episode in his childhood and the reasons why he decided to leave Turkey and study comparative literature in the U.S. From Iranian writer-director Alireza Khatami — returning to solo directing after making the Iran-set film “Terrestrial Verses,” comprised of fierce political vignettes, alongside Ali Asgari — the intriguing narrative examines how a single person holds multiple identities within themselves, emerging depending on the situation they face. Amid the quotidian turmoil, Reza (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil), a wanderer looking for work, shows up at Ali’s garden in the remote countryside — expansive arid vistas color the narrative with an unnerving allure through cinematographer Bartosz Swiniarski’s lens.
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