Summerhouse: A Gay Thriller

A closeted gay couple’s 40-year relationship is imperiled by a new arrival to their sleepy island paradise in this dark comedy thriller: The Birdcage as done by Highsmith

Fehmi and Şener have been together for forty years—no small feat for any pair, but especially admirable for a gay couple in Turkey. Behind closed closet doors, their life on Büyükada, an idyllic island near Istanbul, is like a powder keg that only needs one spark to make it blow. That spark soon comes in the form of Deniz, the wildly handsome and troubled teenager next door, who immediately catches Fehmi’s eye.

This “harmless” crush raises Şener’s hackles: he is horrified to see his husband made unrecognizable by his lecherous desires, and Deniz represents a sinister threat to everything Şener holds dear. Little do Deniz and Fehmi know that Şener will stop at nothing to protect his family, and if all three of them make it to the end of summer alive, it’ll be a miracle.

Dishy, emotional, and suspenseful, Yiğit Karaahmet’s debut makes a fierce political statement about gay rights in Turkey, while also introducing a shockingly lovable pair of antiheroes who could be Tom Ripley’s grandfathers.