far review [Netflix] – Review in FilmTotaal

Director: vanessa jopp | Script: Jane Ainscough | Cast: Naomi Krauss (Zeynep), Goran Bogdan (Josip), Bahar Balci (Fia), Adnan Maral (Ilyas), ea | Time to play: 109 minutes | Year: 2023

On the day of her mother’s funeral, Zeynep is saddled with a misbehaving father and daughter, and a husband who doesn’t even show up. Since he has just found out that his mother bought him a house in Croatia, he abruptly leaves his family behind and drives there. Once there, a man appears to be connected to that house. There’s some friction at first, but he teaches her that it doesn’t take much to be happy. And above all, that it is his happiness that counts the most.

Zeynep is tired of being treated like a doormat by her family. She rightfully doesn’t want that anymore because they’re a bunch of idiots, but I miss her not having communication to try and figure it out first before packing. Once she has arrived in Croatia, she is assertive in no time. That’s a rapid development, and if she has that in her, she might as well have stayed home in Germany to take care of her family.

Far It shows many similarities to Dutch rom-coms: illogical characters, lopsided dialogue, and very simple motivations to get the plot going and keep it going, all set in a sunny, paradisiacal foreign country. And just as they do here, German filmmakers are looking at what was so great about American movies twenty years ago and incorporating it into their production.

So there’s a light-hearted atmosphere and a genuinely nice joke is cracked once or twice. That remote cabin is located in a picturesque location and, in fact, seems to be everything a human being needs in life. Zeynep’s external development is also very well executed: when she arrives in Croatia she seems to have lost the joie de vivre, towards the end she is radiant.

But mediocre hodgepodge is done by mediocre writers, and they have problems with pacing and logic. In addition to Zeynep’s flexible personality, there is, for example, the empty bank account of Josip, the man who seems to live in Zeynep’s house. He did not have to pay rent (neither water nor electricity) while he lived there and works two jobs. Why doesn’t this man have money?

There comes a time when a couple of men start fighting each other in a brawl. Possibly the most amateurish fight ever portrayed on a professional film. Someone quietly falls to their knees, lies down next to someone, and then continues to fight. The actors clearly haven’t rehearsed anything.

Far It’s a cliché trifle, but then again, not the worst of its kind. In fact, a woman leaving her family behind is quite a controversial topic, even if it’s not explored in depth here. Predictable, but not so extreme that there is nothing to enjoy anymore. Only Croatia is not that far from Germany, so the title is a bit of an exaggeration.

Far can be seen in Netflix.