Mommo

Two real-life cousins play brother and sister in Atalay Tasdiken's heartbreaking though not completely hopeless Turkish drama Mommo (which translates as “bogeyman”). Nine year-old Ahmet (Mehmet Bülbül) and his younger sister, Ayse (Elif Bülbül), live with their strict grandfather, Hasan (Mete Dönmezer), in remote Hüyük. Illiterate and partially disabled, Hasan looks after the pair as best he can. Their father, Kazim (Mustafa Uzunyilmaz), lives in town with his second wife and his stepson, but the children don't see him much. When they aren't attending school, the siblings tell each other stories, tend their mother's grave, and try to stay out of trouble. Neither has many friends, although the grocer (Mehmet Usta) gives both of them rides on his motorcycle and slips them sweets that they hide from Hasan. Otherwise the two lead a pretty lonely life, and the local women worry about their fate should their grandfather remarry or pass away. The kids harbor hopes that their aunt in Germany can take them in, but she has to clear some legal hurdles first, while their coldly practical father recommends a children's home, since his crabby new wife wants nothing to do with them. A smartly observant film about the often uncertain lives of children, Mommo is recommended. (K. Fennessy)