The Things You Kill

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, a university professor coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.

Celebrated Iranian American director Alireza Khatami (Terrestrial Verses, 2023 Cannes Film Festival) makes his Sundance competition debut with his striking third feature, a quietly insidious psychological thriller that hits close to home. With ingenuity and bold self-awareness, Khatami orchestrates a gradual descent into the oppressive depths of generational patriarchy, peeling back long-held secrets and collectively condoned behavior to confront the decaying internalized ugliness underneath. Set against sweeping landscapes, the film boasts a renowned Turkish cast whose nuanced performances punctuate this searing examination of cycles of violence, ensuring that voice is given to a generation desperately seeking to renounce the dark legacy they have inherited.

Ambitious and unsettling, The Things You Kill shatters expectations to deliver a timely and original vision of the cost of personal and collective liberation.

Run time: 114 minutes

Language: Turkish with English subtitles