Godspeed
Confusing drama about war has violence, language.
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Godspeed
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Godspeed is a 2021 Turkish anti-war drama that seemingly depicts an unnamed military conflict. Loyal citizens serve in the military and then suffer terrible consequences, both mental and physical. Threats, shootings, injury, and death are on display here. Adults briefly have sex; breasts are glimpsed from the side. Adults smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," "ass," "bastard," "bitch," " hell," "damn," and "piss." In Turkish with English subtitles.
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What's the Story?
In GODSPEED, in present-day scenes and through flashbacks, we see the agonies of Salih (Engin Akyurek), who lost a leg as a captain in the Turkish army. This explicitly anti-war movie is also the tale of a puzzling relationship between two friends who seem to strongly dislike each other. Salih is depressed, hot-headed, and, we later learn, mentally unstable. Through most of the action, we attribute his moods to his disability, but a jumbled past-and-present timeline makes clear that the circumstances of his injury had other tragic consequences. He breaks out of the hospital where he's being treated and also held as a suspect for an unnamed crime, and finds his gun and old car with the passion of a man on a mission. A 400-mile road trip ensues as he races toward disrupting the forced wedding of the woman his lieutenant Kerim (Tolga Saritas) loves.
Is It Any Good?
Godspeed is a movie with its heart in the right place and a few good performances, but just about everything else about it is an overlong, confusing mess. The action moves artlessly between present day and ill-timed flashbacks. For far too long, we have little or no information about what's mentally wrong with Salih, or what brought him to his despairing and unstable position. This is a dramatically fatal mistake because by the time the movie bothers to let us know what's going on, we are long past caring. By then we've been permitted to label the main character annoying and irritable instead of someone deserving of our empathy and understanding. Without any help from the filmmakers, we are left in the company of main characters who have the attention span of a 2-year-old, severely impaired judgment, an inability to act sensibly, and no impulse control.
The vital key to our enlightenment comes too late, depriving us of the emotional experience this movie could have provided. Finally, we all know that soldiers and their loved ones suffer in wars, but Turkish viewers will no doubt know far more about the particulars illustrated here.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what the movie's attitude toward war is. How do you know?
The movie withholds certain vital information. Do you think that works or makes it confusing?
Who are the soldiers fighting? Do we need to know for the movie to make sense?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: May 23, 2022
- Cast: Engin Akyurek, Tolga Saritas
- Director: Mehmet Ada Oztekin
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 119 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 17, 2023
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