Duniya Journal

by Imtiaz Popat

Alireza Khatami’s The Things You Kill is personal a reckoning with the legacy of violence in his own family.  The story was originally in Farsi and set in Iran – but, when censorship authorities demanded changes, it was relocated to Turkey. 

Now an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, Khatami was born into the Indigenous Turkish-speaking Khamse tribe in southeast Iran.  He draws from the oral storytelling traditions of his heritage to craft films that blend magic realism with incisive social commentary

 This marks the third feature by writer/director Alireza Khatami.  Oblivion Verses won both the Orizzonti Award (Best Screenplay) and the FIPRESCI Prize at Venice 2017.  Terrestrial Verses (co-directed with Ali Asgari), premiered at Cannes 2025.

After 14 years in the US, Ali (Ekin Koç) returns to his native Turkey, where he now lives with his wife (Hazar Ergüçlü) teaching literature at the university.  Ali faces uncertainties in both his personal and professional life. Then his mother suspiciously dies, triggering Ali’s long- suppressed resentment of his father (Ercan Kesal).  When Ali coerces his enigmatic gardener Reza (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil) to execute an act of cold-blooded vengeance, forcing Ali to look into the abyss of his own soul. The film is surreal with past traumas coming back to haunt Ali. The film is reflective of the lived trauma that haunts the region.

The film is a Canada, France, Poland and Turkey co-production whose producers include Canada’s Alireza Khatami and Michael Solomon. The film is in Turkish with English subtitles.