VIDEO Interview with filmmakers of Lifelike in competition at PÖFF29

Interview with Ali Vatansever the director of the feature drama LIFELIKE and the co producer Dumitru Alexandru.

The film premiered in Tallinn in main competition at Black Nights Film Festival and we met at the Turkish reception in the Bookstore by the theatre complex.

The story: ABDI(46), a once-aggressive school-bus driver, has grown quieter under the weight of his son’s terminal illness. His wife, REYHAN (43), in contrast, refuses to yield to despair; her social media presence as cancer-fighting mom has garnered tens of thousands of followers, turning her son’s care into an experimental treatment. Amid these extraordinary circumstances, their son IZZET(19) seems to be the only one taking the situation lightly, spending all his remaining time in VRChat with virtual friends.

When Abdi and Reyhan overhear Izzet in VRChat that he accepts the inevitable end, a state of emergency ensues at home. Abdi seeks solace in religion, visiting a local Hodja, while Reyhan doubles down on alternative therapies. She sends Abdi to herbalists after a wild plant from Anatolian mountains, showcased in a follower’s video: a holy elderly cures cancer with a miracle plant. Meanwhile, Izzet impulsively invites a virtual girlfriend to his physical home. Their meeting goes sideways, Izzet attempts suicide. Outside the hospital, the couple’s relationship crumbles.

Abdi consults the Hodja about Izzet’s desire to end his life, only to be accused of neglecting his fatherly duties. Enraged, he transforms the school-bus into a makeshift room with a view. Convincing Reyhan that he’s heading to the cancer-curing man and the wild plant, he takes Izzet on the road.

Alone at home, Reyhan cleans the apartment, feeling remorse as if erasing the last traces of her son. She persuades the neighbors to gather at her place. Abdi and Izzet stop at a lake, chanting loudly. Raising his hopes up, Abdi changes direction towards the plant, only to find out that the old man has vanished.

Unable to manage enough space in the living room, Reyhan serves food on the sickbed. After consuming the untouched food, she goes live on social media.

Abdi and Izzet climb uphill for the plant, increasing their morphine intake. The vast scenery gradually takes on a virtual world resemblance. Father and son call Reyhan, leading to a sincere conversation. Wearing VR headset, Reyhan joins them on the hill. Along with virtual avatars, they dance in euphoria.