Paper Lives movie review 2021

MOVIE TITLE: PAPER LIVES

Available on Netflix on March 12, 2021

RATING: R for violence and profanity

LENGTH: 1 hour 36 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Mehmet is a kind man who runs a solid waste warehouse in a poor neighborhood in Turkey. He helps everyone in need, especially homeless children and teenagers since he was one too. This dark and dramatic film is directed by Can Ulkay and written by Ercan Mehmet Erdem.

THINGS I LIKED:

I love the title because it refers to all of the paper products the protagonist collects and recycles for money, as well as his paper-thin life.
You get to travel to Istanbul, Turkey to see what life is like there. That’s a destination that has been on my Bucket List for many years. I’m always fascinated with the food people eat in other countries too. You’ll watch people eat food with their fingers as they use a type of bread to scoop up food like a utensil.
Most American audiences will be completely unfamiliar with the stars of the film: Cagatay Ulusoy, and Ersin Arici. They all did a great job. The young boy is completely adorable and played by Emir Ali Dogrul.
I love that the protagonist keeps a Bucket List. I started mine when I was just a teenager. I used to look at the list and think “Someday…” but then I finally decided to stop wishing and wondering when those things would happen and, instead, MAKE them happen. I put them on my calendar and did research to see what it would take to do them. Crossing items off my Bucket List is such an empowering feeling!
It’s sweet how the street people call each other “Brother” and “Uncle”.
There’s a great no-cut shot at the beginning of the movie that had me guessing who the protagonist was.
There’s a surprising twist.
Some foreign films that use voiceover work can look really distracting when you watch the mouths, but this film handled it very well.
Hug your family today.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The British accents didn’t seem like the right voiceover work. It kept reminding me of Oliver Twist
As much as I admired the protagonist for helping so many people, he sure had an anger management problem that got him in a lot of trouble.
There are quite a few melodramatic, overacting moments.
The musical score didn’t always align with the content you see on the screen.
You’ll probably feel depressed after you watch the movie, so concentrate on the good you can find and do in your life.