Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)
★★½ — Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) is a Turkish crime drama from director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, produced through a co-production arrangement between Turkish companies 1000 Volt and Zeynofilm and the Bosnian outfit 2006 Produkcija. The film follows a convoy of police, a prosecutor, a doctor, and two suspects as they drive through the Anatolian countryside through the night, attempting to locate a buried body that one of the suspects, Kenan, can no longer precisely pinpoint. The premise is, on the surface, procedural. In practice, the film is far more interested in the conversations and silences that fill the long hours of searching than in any conventional resolution of the crime itself. It received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, sharing the prize with The Kid with a Bike, and went on to represent Turkey in the Academy Awards' foreign-language film category. For those who follow world cinema, it sits comfortably alongside other meditative, slow-burn dramas of its era.
Ceylan had already established himself as one of Turkey's most respected filmmakers well before this picture, with previous work earning him multiple trips to the Cannes competition. His approach here is consistent with that reputation: long takes, sparse dialogue, a preference for natural light and observed behaviour over constructed drama. The screenplay, which he wrote alongside Ebru Ceylan and Ercan Kesal, reportedly drew on real experiences that Kesal, himself a doctor, had witnessed during actual criminal investigations in rural Turkey. That grounding in lived experience gives the film a particular texture, a sense that these conversations about mortgages, pomegranates, and provincial life are not invented for dramatic effect but observed from something real. The runtime of 163 minutes is not incidental. It is, by any measure, a considerable commitment, and one the film makes no effort to disguise or soften. If you have enjoyed other slow, considered dramas from world cinema (such as those covered in the review of Yi Yi), you will have a reasonable sense of what you are letting yourself in for.
The principal cast is led by Muhammet Uzuner as the doctor, a quietly observant figure whose perspective gradually shapes much of the film's emotional register. Yılmaz Erdoğan plays the chief of police, a weary, warm, and occasionally funny presence who keeps the group's fraying patience from collapsing entirely. Taner Birsel takes the role of the prosecutor, polished but unremarkable in bearing until the film reveals more of him, and Fırat Tanış plays Kenan, the suspect whose uncertain memory is the engine of the whole enterprise. It is an ensemble in the truest sense, with no single performance dominating but each contributing to the cumulative weight of the night. Performances of this kind, internalised and unshowy, are easy to undervalue, and it is worth noting that the naturalism here is a product of craft rather than accident. For a different register of what world cinema crime drama can look like, the review of A Bittersweet Life or the write-up on Mustang, another drama rooted in Turkish life and landscape, might offer useful contrast.
A-Z World Movie Tour Turkey Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is a film of quiet power and unbearable slowness. Three hours of men walking, talking, driving through the dark, dusty Turkish countryside in search of a buried body. Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, it’s undeniably well-made: every frame feels like a moody, grey-toned photograph, and the performances are subtle, natural, deeply human. The cinematography is stunning, especially the long takes under flickering headlights or dawn light creeping over barren hills. The story, a police convoy, a prosecutor, a doctor, and two suspects on a night-long journey to find a corpse, unfolds like a philosophical detective drama. It’s less about solving a crime and more about the weight of guilt, bureaucracy, class divides, and the silence between men who talk but never really connect. There are moments of dark humour, moral ambiguity, and quiet revelation that linger after the film ends. But let’s be honest: it’s ridiculously slow. Scenes stretch far beyond their purpose, conversations loop, and entire sequences feel like they’re testing your patience. At nearly three hours, it’s at least twice as long as it needs to be. You admire it more than enjoy it, like standing in a rain-soaked field, waiting for something to happen, when you already know what’s coming. Brilliant in parts, masterfully crafted, but deliberately, almost punitively drawn out. A film for the patient. Not because it has to be, but because it wants to be.
And that tension between admiration and endurance is something I keep coming back to with films like this. There is no doubt that Ceylan knows exactly what he is doing, and the craft on display is real. But knowing a film is constructed with care and actually wanting to spend three hours inside it are two very different things. I find myself respecting it the way you respect a long walk in difficult weather: you're glad you did it, you wouldn't necessarily rush to do it again, and you'd probably warn a friend before recommending it. If you're building your way through world cinema and want something that rewards patience and attention, it belongs on the list. Just maybe not on a weeknight.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 2011 | Watched: 2025-09-14
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · BFI Player
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Rent: Apple TV Store
Buy: Apple TV Store
Physical: Amazon US
Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.
Related on Movies With Macca
More from Turkey: Triangle of Sadness (2022)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)
