‘Oh Belinda’ Review: Magical Realism at the Heart of Turkey

Magical Realism is one genre that is easy to confuse with just the bizarre. In it, the mundane and the magical lives are on the same plane of existence, which allows pretty magical stuff to happen to anyone. The result of working in such a genre is that the stories can go in whatever direction, and they allow for some meaningful use of symbols, analogies, and so much more. It is easy to create this type of story, but those that manage to do it are often quite memorable. Oh Belinda, arriving this weekend on Netflix, is one of those stories.

The film is directed by Deniz Yorulmazer and tells the story of Dilara, a famous actress who has been descending in the category when it comes to finding new jobs. Now she is mostly booked for commercials, which frustrates her as she sees herself as a series actress. While shooting the commercial, Dilara is transported to a world where she is the character she plays in the commercial, and now she must navigate this new life that the universe has given her.

The film is a combination of both comedy and drama, and it mostly succeeds in satisfyingly executing both of these genres. The story is compelling, and seeing Dilara having to adapt to her new life is both hilarious but also quite terrifying. Just imagine one day waking up and your entire life is gone. It doesn’t sound very pleasant, and it isn’t. These terrible circumstances put our main character through a trial by fire, and even when Delira isn’t particularly nice at the start, it becomes easy to put ourselves in her shoes.

Neslihan Atagül plays our main character, Delira, and the actress simply steals the show. This movie rests on her shoulders, and she does a wonderful job at it. The fact that she is both a good actress in the movie and in real life tells you a lot about her talent. The rest of the cast does a good job, but Atagül delivers energy and amazing delivery in each scene. She also can easily move between hilarious and dramatic, which tells us she has a huge range to work with. She is, without a doubt, the biggest asset the movie has.

While Atagül’s performance is quite fantastic, there are also a couple of things that make the movie feel quite scattered. A couple of plot points here and there make the movie feel incomplete. Elements are introduced but never used to their fullest potential or even given a conclusion. It all feels quite strange. Maybe it is to create the sensation that this new life the main character is living is not her own, but when the movie spends time on these plot points and never takes them to their final consequences, then it all feels quite off.

The movie is basically an isekai story, an anime term used for when a character passes from one reality to another and gets stuck. This type of story has been quite popular in recent years, and right now, it feels like everyone is ready to do their own isekais. Square Enix just recently did it with Forspoken in the realm of video games. There is really something compelling about having the chance to go to another world and start from scratch. It might be hard, but some of our own lives are screwed up enough as they are, and some people would love a fresh start.

Visually, the film looks very standard. There are a couple of transitions that are quite impressive, but for the most part, the movie has that romantic comedy look that was so popular at the beginning of the 2000s, all of it done with digital cinematography, of course. The Turkish urban landscape is very well-preserved, and it looks like a blast to go out at night and have some drinks. Often, locations are not that well-used in movies, but here the urban landscape is a constant presence.

Oh Belinda isn’t precisely a deep movie. As the movie comes to a close, you totally see what the lesson is in all of this. However, even when the lesson is quite cliché and predictable, that last shot of the movie is quite powerful, and the fact that the credits roll on top of it makes it even more poignant. It is quite a shame that the movie doesn’t feel cohesive. There are a lot of ideas here, but maybe the script needed some more drafts to tie everything in a bit more neatly. As it is, the movie feels like it went for the throat using all existing ideas, not thinking where those ideas would go.

In the end, Oh Belinda serves as a nice distraction. It is not deep, but it is funny at times, and it is quite compelling. Atagül’s performance is the best thing about the movie, making it a blast to watch. Without her, there aren’t many reasons to watch this, as it is all very predictable and a bit boring regarding plot progression. No big twists or revelations exist, so don’t expect any mystery to be completely solved. If you really need something to watch, then this is the movie for you. It is nice, direct, and simple.

SCORE: 7/10