Overview
Three friends find themselves in a comical yet tragic predicament when mistaken for terrorists, leading to unexpected revelations about friendship and fear.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- sardonic
- bleak
- tragicomic
- social satire night
- Turkish cinema discovery
What critics said
The film is broadly regarded as an effective dark comedy and tragic satire of injustice in the Turkish judicial and penal system.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The friends’ mistaken arrest and imprisonment turn judicial and penal dysfunction into darkly comic social criticism.
Ibrahim, Muzo, and Aydın are swept into detention after police misinterpret fear and coerced statements as evidence.
The friends’ absurd chain of bad luck is played for laughter while emphasizing the families and lovers left behind.
Police pressure causes the friends to implicate one another, transforming an innocent misunderstanding into a prison case.
Films like Pardon, and why
The Death of Stalin
shares black comedy, institutional injustice, and tragicomic ordinary people caught in an absurd system
I, Daniel Blake
combines dark humor with wrongful accusation, bureaucratic cruelty, and escalating misfortune
Brazil
uses sardonic comedy to expose oppressive institutions and the vulnerability of powerless individuals
Movie Details
- Director
- Mert Baykal
- Release Date
- 2005-03-04
- Runtime
- 94 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (136)
Cast
- Ferhan Şensoy
- Rasim Öztekin
- Ali Çatalbaş
- Bülent Kayabaş
- Zeki Alasya
- Erol Günaydın
- Şahnaz Çakıralp
- Levent Ünsal
- Sermiyan Midyat
- Celal Belgil
Common questions
- What is Pardon about?
- Three friends are swallowed by a corrupt misunderstanding when police mistake their fear and coerced words for terrorist evidence.
- What is Pardon like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Pardon as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Pardon violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Pardon as mild.
- What did critics think of Pardon?
- The film is broadly regarded as an effective dark comedy and tragic satire of injustice in the Turkish judicial and penal system.
- Which films are like Pardon?
- Films with a similar feel include The Death of Stalin, I, Daniel Blake, and Brazil.
- How long is Pardon?
- Pardon runs 94 minutes.
