Afloat (2023) Film Review

In March of 2025, three Yale University professors announced they were leaving the United States to live, and teach, in Canada. While the effects of the nascent brain drain have yet to make an impact here, the phenomenon is a hallmark of repressive regimes the world over. The repercussions experienced by family members left behind, and the “survivor’s guilt” carried by the escapees, is an important theme in Aslihan Unaldi’s debut feature film, “Afloat” (2023). 

Water is an apt metaphor for the main characters’ irresolution, as they seem buffeted by the tides of uncertainty. The film opens as Zeynep (Nihan Aker), the eldest daughter, returns to her native Turkey. Her father Yusuf (played by the filmmaker’s own father Serhat Unaldi), a journalist about to be imprisoned by the government, has asked his family for a final reunion aboard his boat. Also present is his divorced wife, Alev (Lila Gurmen) and his estranged younger daughter, Yasemin (Elit Iscan). 

Yasemin, a sullen college dropout, is ruled by resentment. She blames Yusuf for her parents’ divorce, calling him a “selfish, unreliable jerk” and surmises that being an activist for freedom does not excuse his behavior. Yasemin is not able to explicitly articulate her feelings toward her older sister. Her behavior makes it clear, though, that she feels betrayed by her sister’s emigration to the United States. As a minor, Yasemin was forced to live through the dissolution of her parents’ marriage; a devasting experience that her sister avoided through distance. 

When Yasemin accidentally happens upon Yusuf and Alev making love during their vacation, her over-reaction is evidence of her arrested emotional development. Yasemin consequently disappears during the next land excursion, causing much anxiety for her parents. She reappears later that night, unrepentant. By the end of the film, however, Yasemin has matured; she reconciles with her father and has grown closer to her sister, Zeynep 

Zeynep has her own issues, as well. Her career as a filmmaker is stalled and she recently emerged from a crippling bout with depression. Zeynep is bored with her husband, who frowns upon her public displays of dancing and drunkenness. Zeynep is also caught in the act of having sex, but not with her spouse. The conflict between Zeynep and her domestic partner is one of spontaneous sensuality vs. calculated intellectualism. 

Writer-director Aslihan Unaldi has stated that one of her goals in making “Afloat” was to portray strong Muslim females who are unafraid of their sexuality. She achieves her objective but a weakness in the film’s structure prevented me from fully engaging with the characters. Zeynep and Yasemin flaunt Turkey’s societal norms throughout the film, engage in reckless behavior, but never face any consequences. When Unaldi consistently sets up dangerous situations for the women with no fallout, especially when juxtaposed with the punishment awaiting Yusuf for his defiance, it diminishes the authenticity she is trying to establish. 

What does seem genuine, however, is the sibling relationship. “Afloat” ends with an image of the sisters sitting on the edge of the boat, and on the edge of a new understanding. They are tossing Oreo cookies into the water. Zeynep, thinking the treat was unavailable in Turkey, had brought a stash from America. Jasemin informs her that it was unnecessary; she has bought them locally for years. The sisters are symbolically jettisoning emotions and ideas have kept them afloat but not connected. 

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