We discuss the ending of the 2023 Netflix film Chokehold which will contain spoilers.
Upon first meeting Yalin (Kivanc Tatlitug), Chokehold‘s protagonist, it’s clear he’s not well-liked in the picturesque village of Assos. While he grew up there, the homecoming is anything but warm, and even the village shopkeeper refuses to sell him groceries. Yalin’s wife, Beyza (Funda Eryigit), is as supportive as she can be and wants them to put the past behind them and start a new life.
Back in Istanbul, Yalin was a well-known and respected businessman. But it all came crashing down when a secret whistleblower revealed he was operating a Ponzi scheme.
Many Assos residents lost their life savings, and some of them are willing to try to take justice into their own hands. When one junk store owner attacks Yalin while shopping for a vase, he starts realizing how dangerous Assos can be for a man like him.
Chokehold Ending Explained
It’s safe to say that by the time we reach Chokehold’s third act, Yalin’s life in Assos is on a downward spiral. The local police officer flat-out told him he had no interest in protecting him from angry villagers and their (metaphorical) pitchforks. And our poor protagonist had already been randomly attacked no less than three times.
Not one to take anything lying down, Yalin did kill every single would-be attacker, and it’s becoming painfully apparent that as long as he remains in the village, the bodies will keep piling.
Yalin plans to run
After murdering a man in the men’s toilets at a classical symphony concert he was attending and throwing his body inside a well, Yalin decides it’s time to leave Turkey and start a new life across the sea in Greece.
He makes a deal with a young fisherman who moonlights as a coyote and tries to convince Beyza to leave with him. At first, she’s apprehensive about his plan to flee but appears convinced after Yalin finally tells her about the threat to his life. Conveniently, he leaves out the part where he’s now a serial killer.
When his wife questions how the pair would support themselves in Europe, a proud Yalin shows her yet another secret – One million Euros in cash he’s been stashing all along. To Yalin’s surprise, instead of showing appreciation and praise for his ingenuity, Beyza appears horrified.
Throughout the film, we get little scenes of Beyza trying to make sense of who her husband is. She appears desperate to find the good in him and wants to stand by him while he turns over a new leaf. Yet the hidden money confirms what she already knew; Yalin is a fraud. A monster she should have left long ago.
Who reported Yalin’ss Ponzi scheme?
It was, in fact, Beyza who turned him to the prosecutor back in Istanbul and put an end to his ongoing Ponzi scheme. The woman finally confesses to being the original whistleblower. She felt she had no other way of making Yalin understand the harm he was causing innocent people.
Beyza is determined to turn the money Yalin has been hiding to the authorities and put an end to her marriage. She doesn’t get to put her plan into action as an angry Yalinsmashes a hammer into the back of her head. As his wife lies on the floor dying, Yalin angrily states he would have found cheating an easier betrayal to forgive than she did.
Why does Yalin choose to stay in Assos?
Beyza was the last shred of humanity for Yalin to cling to, so after burying her body in their scenic garden overlooking the sea, he’s left with no reason to run. Instead, he takes the money he’s been hiding and goes it inside his olive basket in the center of the village, effectively bribing the people who once despised him.
Slowly but surely, the villagers who helped themselves to the cash start making their way to Yalins garden and treat him like a king. They have gifts and praise and questions about his future business plans.
The police officer makes it clear he has no intention to investigate the disappearances of Yalin’s victims, and no one questions his wife’s disappearance. Yalin says she’s gone, and that’s good enough for them.
What did you think of the ending of the 2023 Netflix film Chokehold? Comment below.
