Metecan Duren’s feature-length horror-fantasy ghost story, Pretty, is an attempt to realize a vision that feels as if Duren might have been too close to let it breathe. However, the story’s twists and turns make it an interesting and unique horror drama, which Duren wrote, directed, filmed, edited, and scored—an enormous undertaking for a two-hour movie, divided into several parts.
After coming into contact with the ghost of a murdered young girl named Betty (Alina Zakharova), Pretty (Melisa Kihtir) becomes tormented and obsessed with uncovering what happened to her and why this strange event took place. In parallel with this call from the grave, strange occurrences plague Pretty’s home, first affecting her sister Emma (Saran Duren) and then her visiting cousins, Ivy (Iclal Aykac) and Lea (Kayra Dogan). Violence and bizarre events escalate within the home until Pretty becomes trapped in a game of love, murder, and jealousy.
When Pretty hears a sound from a building on her street while walking with her friend Tom (Omer Gursoy) and discovers that it’s a girl who is stuck in the in-between- she may have died, but she’s not sure. Pretty can hear, but no one else can. And then she is haunted and traumatized by a life-sized rabbit and by the idea of rising to become a star, which is the overarching theme and perhaps the story of Pretty; only the journey is a very scary approach to ascension.
“Pretty becomes tormented and obsessed with uncovering what happened to her…”
Pretty and Betty have long conversations through a door, but Betty is never seen. Is Pretty next? Why is she drawn to this voice behind a door in a strange abode? Pretty also texts with a stranger, obey.the1 (Ferhad Gurbanov), who is luring her out of the house and may be the bizarre killer with a white smiley face who runs at extremely high speeds toward Pretty.
The other creepy element in Pretty is the upscale home and lifestyle, along with the lack of parents, which seems to have kept Pretty and his sister Emma housebound, as they do not drive and walk everywhere, even when their cousins show up- another plot twist. As it turns out, the lack of parents is part of the horror, a surprising turn of events. Since so much of the film occurs in the home, the characters seem a bit too comfortable, and their reactions to the horror feel underdeveloped.
Interesting lighting techniques create a film noir atmosphere, including night-for-day shots that evoke a Hitchcockian vibe. In addition, Duren’s soundtrack heightens the sense of anticipation and impending horror, which is spot-on.
With moments of effective scare tactics sprinkled throughout this psychological horror story that tries to connect to the ethereal, Pretty is a serious effort at a horror film, from the minds, bodies, and physical beings of all involved. However, continuity is a stumbling block, and the explanation for why things are happening is disjointed. Yet all is revealed in the end, with a final that is not quite what one might expect.
"…haunted and traumatized by a life-sized rabbit"
