Watchtower

An odd, unnerving drama by Turkish director Pelín Esmer, Watchtower tells the fable-like tale of two strangers—each burdened with deep secrets—whose destinies merge. Nihat (Olgun Simsek) is a taciturn, isolated man suffering from a recent tragedy who finds an appropriate job as a lone watchman in a hilltop observation tower overlooking a wide swath of high-elevation forest. Nihat's only means of communication is a two-way radio that he uses to check in with other watchmen. Seher (Nilay Erdonmez) works at a nearby rest stop for long-distance bus travelers, literally hiding her pregnancy until concealment becomes impossible. Seher's path eventually crosses Nihat's and she winds up taking shelter in the watchtower, but their relationship is uneasy, a strange dance of resentment, compassion, and yearning for a familial bond. The characters' solipsistic behavior is difficult to take at times, but filmmaker Esmer knows that sometimes people change slowly, and part of what makes Watchtower a compelling drama are these little signs of glacial—but real—evolution in the characters. Recommended. (T. Keogh)