Mustang

Set in the lavishly green, sun-drenched mountains of Turkey’s Black Sea coast, five teenaged girls plot to escape the demands of their old-school grandmother and short-tempered uncle. When the girls start showing interest in the boys at school, the family begins a crackdown, forcing the sisters into shapeless brown dresses and pulling them out of school. The girls keep fighting for independence, even as hastily arranged marriages begin driving them apart from one another. Despite the grim subject matter, first-time writer/director Deniz Gamze Ergüven keeps the tone hestitantly optimistic throughout. Try not to miss this one.