Summary
Stuck Apart misses a key ingredient — a personality of any kind. This is a dud.
This review of Netflix film Stuck Apart contains no spoilers. The drama was released on the streaming service on January 8, 2021.
Coming on the second Friday of 2021 is Turkish film Stuck Apart that follows a man called Aziz who is going through a dire existential crisis, which I’m told is common the older you get; the more life moves by, the more regrets. So here we have a fictional case study, supposedly laced with comedy and drama. The film builds a narrative that Aziz craves youth, and he’s depressingly unhappy with his private and personal life; even his family are deeply involved, which compounds a vicious issue. He wants to be alone, and he wants freedom. He’s an introvert’s dream.
Apparently, Netflix’s Stuck Apart is a comedy, but it plays entirely like a drama that beats the same miserable drum. Audiences know that existential crises are boring; if you see a family member or friend go through one, it’s hardly a surge of entertainment. In film form, it’s best not to truly reflect how boring they are. The script fails to shine any form of amusement, vying for dark comedy but ending up with a numb plot. And while some will argue that this is meant to be a reflection of mental health, the shot back is that it’s also meant to be funny.
Rather than inject the script with personality, it strips any chance of energy from the lead character and reduces him to a pulp of glumness. The film is on point with the theme, but its loyalty to it offers no favours. Frankly, it’s a snooze-fest, and while the performances are okay, the Netflix film is hardly indicative of refined character profiling.
So while the lead character’s existential crisis is apparent, it lulls the audience into the same downcast mood, and the last thing we need after a horrendous 2020 is to overthink our purpose in life. Stuck Apart misses a key ingredient — a personality of any kind. This is a dud.
