Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Grudge’ On Netflix, A Slick Turkish Crime Drama That Will Keep You Guessing

In Grudge – titled Kin in its original Turkish – an upstanding police officer sees his life begin to fall apart when he becomes the target of a vengeful conspiracy he never saw coming. Set in Istanbul, Turkey, the crime thriller makes you question the innocence and involvement of its characters, and leaves you wondering who in this dark, violent world – if anyone – is worth trusting. 

GRUDGE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Chief Inspector Harun Celiktan (Yilmaz Erdogan) has just been named police officer of the year, and another promotion seems nigh. High on this news, he heads out with his team to celebrate and gets into a cab to head home after a happy evening. After drifting off, he discovers that the cab driver has taken him to a remote area with plans of killing him. Harun fights for his life and winds up killing the cab driver, wiping the scene when he departs in the hopes of it disappearing. The next morning, the body is hung off a crane outside the police station, and the squad – and Harun – scramble to find the perpetrator of this gruesome murder.

As his team gets closer to the truth, Harun finds himself looking over his shoulder and soon realizes that he is the target of some kind of conspiracy. Both the fugitive and the investigator, Harun struggles to cope with his life falling apart around him – and discovers that his past in the force may have come back to haunt him in ways he never expected.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Grudge may bring to mind flicks like The Take, The Fugitive, Enemy of the State, and even The Departed at times though its Turkish setting definitely gives it a distinct edge.

Performance Worth Watching: Grudge really belongs to its leading man, Yilmaz Erdogan. As Chief Inspector Harun, he effortlessly mixes stoicism with torture, trying his best to remain an upstanding leader even as his integrity is diminished and his once-promising world begins to crash around him. Erdogan’s classic detective face – the no-nonsense look, the furrowed brow, that strong mustache – make him the perfect candidate for this kind of role. We trust him right away, and watching him quietly fall apart is a big reason why Grudge works as well as it does.

Memorable Dialogue: I jotted down one of Harun’s early lectures to Tuncay because it felt like such an accurate little jab at policework. He tells him that rather than everyone being innocent until proven guilty, “everyone’s a little guilty until our suspicions are eliminated.”

Sex and Skin: Not much here.

Our Take: Grudge is everything you can ask of a mid-tier crime drama; a great ensemble of police officers, a haunted leading man, a delightfully ’90s thriller score. Is it brilliant or particularly memorable? Perhaps not. But it’s watchable and compelling as hell, with a juicy story at its center and a strong cast to help guide us with every twist and turn. In addition to the world of the film itself sucking you in immediately, Grudge also owes a lot to its excellent cast; the aforementioned Erdogan leads the troops valiantly, but Duygu Sarasin is also a standout, stealing each of her scenes with a delightful devilishness that adds a special extra layer to the film as a whole.

From the opening sequence – which is obviously in place to show us an event that is going to come back to haunt our protagonist – we know we’re in for a vengeance-driven journey, even if we aren’t quite sure who the players are just yet. It’s a strong script, even if it isn’t particularly original; things move quickly, dramatic confrontations pack a punch, and each big reveal plays out in a way that feels true to the script – not hokey or overdramatic. It’s a well-paced, well-performed flick steeped in darkness; what more can you possibly ask for?

Our Call: STREAM IT. Armed with an excellent ensemble and a tight script, Grudge is full of all the twists and turns that make for a thrilling crime drama.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.

Stream Grudge on Netflix