Faraway Movie Review: Satisfying Drama of Self-Discovery With A Dash Of Romance

Cast: Naomi Krauss, Goran Bogdan, Adnan Maral, Bahar Balci, Artjom Gilz, Davor Tomic

Director: Vanessa Jopp

Streaming Platform: Netflix

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Faraway is a Netflix original film directed by Vanessa Jopp and written by Jane Ainscough and Alex Kendall which tells the story of Zeynap (Naomi Krauss), a mother approaching 50 whose chef husband (Adnan Maral) who thinks about having fun with a young female staff in his restaurant than with her on the day of her mother’s funeral. When she finds the keys to a house located in her native Croatia in a post-mortem package left behind by her mother, Zeynap abandons everything, including her daughter Fia (Bahar Balci), to go and reclaim that house for herself and turns it into an apartment to rent on Airbnb.

Faraway Movie Review: The Story Plot

In Faraway Zeynap (Naomi Krauss) is a 49-year-old mother living in Munich, with Turkish origins, who is facing a complicated moment in her life: the recent mourning for her mother. On the day of the funeral, she argues with her cook husband (Adnan Maral) who has forgotten the sad event, preferring work and the company of a young girl. The woman, fed up with everything and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, then sets off for Croatia, alone, not even informing her daughter Fia about her (Bahar Balci), to reach the house that his mother, of Croatian origin, bequeathed him. After hours on the highway, the ferry to reach the island, a trip by bus, and a long walk, late at night Zeynep arrives at his destination.

In the morning, after collapsing exhausted on her bed, she makes the acquaintance of Josip (Goran Bogdan) who lives there in his cottage. The protagonist chases him away, claiming the house with the intention of renovating it and transforming it into an Airbnb. From here on Faraway proceeds on two narrative lines: the first sees Zeynap eager to sell her new property and Josip who tries in every way to prevent her from doing so; the second, and more important, focuses on the rebirth of the woman, who finally finds herself and, above all, the will to live. There will be obstacles along the way, including the arrival of her daughter and her ex-husband, whose goal is to bring Zeynap home.

Faraway Movie Review and Analysis

Faraway is therefore a story about the discovery of Zeynap’s freedom, who leaves everything she knew for something new and faces it all alone, also rediscovering a bond with her recently deceased mother. However, this film is also a romantic comedy, one of those where the protagonist finally falls in love with a man younger than her. The love story that arises between Zeynap and Josip is one with the enemies-to-lovers dynamic, in which the characters hate each other at the beginning. Eventually, of course, they’ll bond and the scenery on the horizon, with a sunset over the sea and an evening spent by the campfire, helps set the mood. The soundtrack is rich in pop music, such as “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence and The Machine, which fits into the plot in a reasonable way, but also an eighties cult piece “99 Luftballons” by Nena, the favorite song of the protagonist, which she also hums when she rides her bike drunk, after flirting all evening with a young real estate agent in the village.

The film Faraway is then naturally a story that has a feminine gaze, both because the direction and the screenplay are entrusted to women, and for the story and the characters that are proposed. The novelty of this German-Turkish Netflix Original lies precisely in the choice of a mature actress in the main role, to bring to the screen the message that one can change at any age. Zeynap is a woman who is in the middle of her life, at that moment where, having reached the milestone of the terrifying 50 years, she finds herself with a husband who no longer laughs with her and with the risk of being sucked into a vortex of depression. The only criticism that could be made of the film is its duration, which could have been reduced by at least 20 minutes.

To explain and deepen all the characters who animate and inhabit the island, we ended up going a little too long. Furthermore, unfortunately, little is added to the growth of the two protagonists in love, also because the key to everything had to be that Zeynap had finally found her happiness and a man who loved her. Faraway – is therefore a drama about the rediscovery of life’s true pleasures with that romanticism that is always good for anyone’s heart. If the development of the plot is therefore not the strong point of the film, resulting rather predictable, it is the implicit story that is told of Zeynap, played by the very good Naomi Krauss, and the breathtaking locations of Croatia to embellish everything.

As a story of self-discovery, Faraway works very well. It’s not often you see a film about a mother going through this experience alone. From Zeynap’s struggle with the dissatisfaction she faces at home, to the feelings she grows for Josip, to the bond she tries to forge with her deceased mother through life where she grew up, this film includes all the elements that make this one gratifying. type of films. It also helps that the landscape on this Croatian island is stunning. The soundtrack is very pop music-centric, which fits the plot sensibly and allegorically, but is also a little out of place occasionally amidst the rustic, coastal landscapes. But I try to explain this decision like this: 99 Luftballons is a song released in 1983 by the German group Nena and the character Zeynap lived in Germany.

We also talk about the romantic story that arises between Zeynap and Josip. I didn’t feel enraptured by them. Josip is for most of the film very one-dimensional as a middle-aged man. He is a bit aloof but also sincere, which makes him attractive enough, but you don’t feel any romantic sparks flying anywhere. The biggest criticism I have of Faraway is that it should have finished twenty minutes early. There is a moment when everything could have, and perhaps should have, ended in an orderly manner with a positive ending… but from that moment the credits are still about 20 minutes away. In those 20 minutes, everything previously confusing about the plot and the characters revolving around the house is thrown together in one go and complicates the situation further. These 20 minutes don’t add much to the storyline or growth of each character. The concept of Zeynap finding happiness could have been put elsewhere and the film would have had the same impact.

Faraway Movie Review: The Last Words

The entire film Faraway is shot so well that it could easily eliminate some of its latent flaws with its visual brilliance. The beautiful Croatian island where it was filmed and the crystal-clear sea give that extra something to the story. While not the best romantic drama on Netflix, Faraway serves its purpose well as telling a story about self-discovery. Worth viewing if you’re looking for some laughs, some warmth, or a little distraction. A drama about the rediscovery of life’s true pleasures with that romanticism that is always good for anyone’s heart. One of the strengths is not the plot itself, very predictable, but the story of Zeynap, played by the talented Naomi Krauss, and the breathtaking locations of Croatia.