By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Gitta Gsell
Starring: Beren Tuna | Burak Ates | Dimitri Stapfer | Ecem Aydin | Müjdat Albak | Serkan Tastemur | Zeki Bulgurcu
Country: switzerland
Year: 2021
Running time: 98
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12683198/reference
Michael says: “BEYTO makes a worthy attempt at exploring the challenges and complexities of a gay immigrant from a conservative, homophobic culture. Beyto is a handsome and talented swimmer whose life seems charmed, with supportive parents who own a bakery. They are immigrants form Turkey living in Switzerland, but when Beyto falls in love with his coach Mike he realizes that there is a huge part of his life that he has been keeping a secret. When friends of the family report back to his parents that they saw Beyto at the gay pride parade, they immediately go into damage control making excuses, then whisking their son back to Turkey where they set up a rather extreme scenario that finds him in an arranged marriage with his childhood friend, Narin. If it sounds a little contrived, it is, and the execution is not as well-handled as the concept, but it’s heartfelt, and does explore a cultural challenge not often seen. The ending is something of a cop-out, although that could just be my generation speaking. 2.5 cats“
I don’t feel the ending is a cope out. I think it teaches people that they don’t have to live by societal norms. We need to see more representation of people taking their own lives into their hands. I’m polygamous, very happily so. Once you have experienced freedom to be yourself and live as you see fit, life is so much richer. If people could let go of preconceived notions and let go of self doubt, which leads to jealousy and a fear of not having enough, and a fear of being left etc, there is so much more available. Suddenly, living with more than one person and being happy for them, if they are fulfilling themselves, is a totally normal concept. I hope more movies will show more freedom from societal norms.