You Do You Review: Ahsen Eroglu Makes This Fun
It’s a little confusing to definitively rate the 2023 Turkish movie “You Do You” (Original title: Merve Kült), a romantic-comedy, that neither has a lot of romance, nor much comedy, yet, it has several fun moments, largely courtesy the lead actor Ahsen Eroglu’s bohemian charm.
Directed by Cemal Aplan and written by Ceylan Naz Baycan, “You Do You” follows aspiring designer Merve Kült (Ahsen Eroglu), who gets a job to save her family from eviction and starts falling for her mean boss Anil Gürman (Ozan Dolunay). However, unknown to Merve, Anil has his own nefarious motives for hiring her.
“It takes a little while for “You Do You” to become interesting since the first fifteen minutes make it look like a story about two spoiled brats getting attracted to each other. Merve lives off her mother’s money, has no clue they are virtually bankrupt, and thinks everything will be handed to her on a platter. Anil, on the other hand, is the clichéd “rich, handsome playboy” who doesn’t seem to respect women but begins to develop a soft spot for Merve for no good reason. As the plot progresses, the film becomes more about a young woman pouring in all her time and effort into her new job while also helping her friends develop a new dating app.
The cinematography is colorful, bright and pleasing. Merve keeps breaking the fourth wall to tell viewers what’s going on in her mind, a trope that is entertaining in some films but plain annoying in others. It’s the latter in this one. Regardless, Ahsen Eroglu slowly begins to grow on the viewers due to her perennially optimistic personality as Merve, who is constantly bullied at her new work-place, yet she keeps her spirits high. All the other characters are far less interesting and one-dimensional. However, the breezy tone of the story combined with Ahsen’s upbeat performance holds the film together.
You can stream “You Do You” on Netflix.
