Pratik Handore
Netflix’s ‘Chokehold’ (originally titled ‘Boğa Boğa’) is a thriller movie directed by Onur Saylak. It features Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, Funda Eryiğit, Gürgen Öz, Kerem Arslanoğlu, Müge Bayramoğlu, and Onur Gürçay in the lead roles. The Turkish movie revolves around a couple – Yalin and Beyza – who relocate to a small village on the Aegean coast to start a new life. However, Yalin and Beyza soon realize the town residents are hostile toward them and want to harm the couple. Furthermore, the residents’ hostility towards the couple is linked to Yalin’s past, and he is forced to commit crimes to save himself from their ire. The film’s ending raises questions about whether Yalin pays for his crimes or escapes the consequences entirely. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Chokehold Plot Synopsis
‘Chokehold’ follows Yalin, a businessman from Istanbul who has moved to a small village on the Aegean coast. Yalin returns to his hometown after facing setbacks in his business. He has moved into a house with his wife, Beyza, who appears depressed and uninterested in daily chores. We see Yalin adjusting to life in the small village as Beyza tries to make some friends. One day, Beyza and Yalin are invited to one of their friend’s houses for dinner. Beyza suggests buying a gift, leading to Yalin visiting an antique shop.
Meanwhile, a news broadcast reveals that Yalin was part of a group of businessmen who embezzled money from their investors. The group’s fraud was exposed, and the other members, except Yalin, were arrested for their crimes. Yalin made a deal with the Department of Justice and escaped the consequences of his actions. Consequently, he moved to his hometown and started a new life with his wife. At the antique shop, Yalin s confronted by Cevdet, a local resident who had invested in Yalin’s company. While Yalin tries to walk away from the confrontation, Cevdet attacks him, leading to a physical altercation. Yalin subdues Cevdet and retaliates, causing Cevdet’s death.
After Yalin realizes he killed Cevdet, he hides the body, erases his tracks, and returns home. The following day, Beyza convinces Yalin to accompany her and her friends on a hiking trip. However, the group is forced to split after Salami Toker, a local police officer, arrives to question Yalin. Salami tells Yalin about Cevdet’s disappearance and interrogates him since Yalin is the last person to see Cevdet alive. Although Yalin feigns ignorance, Salami warns him that the townsfolk are angry at Yalin for losing their money. Therefore, he warns Yalin to look after himself and his wife.
Soon, Yalin becomes restless as he experiences hostility from the townsfolk, who hate him for his fraudulent business practices. However, Yalin hides these incidents from Beyza. Yalin tries to tell his lawyer about the murder. However, Yalin’s lawyer warns him that he is on thin ice and that the DOJ could investigate him if he is caught up in any further wrongdoings. Consequently, Yalin becomes mentally unstable and starts losing his sense of objective reality. Meanwhile, Beyza tries to cheer up Yalin and figure out what is bothering him.
Later, another man who invested in Yalin’s scheme attacks him, and Yalin kills the man with a chokehold. Yalin realizes he is no longer safe in the village and contemplates an alternate plan. He consults his lawyer and tries to deduce whether he can flee the country or catch the whistleblower who exposed his fraudulent scheme. However, Yalin’s lawyer advises him against both options. Yalin and Beyza attend a local event where a man once again attacks Yalin. After Yalin kills the man, he starts freaking out and decides to flee the country with his wife. However, he first buries the body and encounters a group of sailors. Yalin makes a deal with the sailors in an attempt to escape, and whether he succeeds forms the rest of the plot.
Chokehold Ending: Who Is the Whistleblower? Is Beyza Dead?
In the movie’s final act, Yalin scrambles to move away from the village with Beyza as his life is in danger. Yalin can no longer keep killing people to save his life, as it is clearly affecting his mental health. Moreover, the law will soon catch up with Yalin, forcing him to face the consequences of his actions. Therefore, Yalin wants to flee the country on a ship, aided by the sailors. He returns home and reveals the truth to Beyza. Yalin retrieves a trunk with millions of dollars to pay the sailors. However, it causes Beyza to break down and finally confront her husband for his fraudulent actions.
Beyza is disappointed in Yalin as he conceals the money from her. She confesses to being the whistleblower who exposed Yalin’s scheme. Yalin is shocked to learn the truth and accuses his wife of betraying her. However, Beyza argues that she wanted her husband to live a better life and indulge in greedy cash-grab schemes under his business’s name. Thus, she hoped to see Yalin mend his way after going to prison. Yalin is enraged at his wife and attacks her when she once again tries to send him to prison. Thus, Beyza meets her tragic end at her husband’s hands. However, Yalin is left with another murder to cover up and seemingly runs out of options.
Does Yalin Get Away With His Crimes?
In the end, Yalin kills Beyza for betraying him but must think fast to cover up this and the murders he has committed. Salami is getting closer to catching Yalin as more and more town residents disappear. Yalin removes Beyza’s dead body from his house, and we see him burying something in his yard. However, it seems unlikely that Yalin will escape the consequences of his actions. Moreover, it adds a poetic sense of justice to Yalin’s fate if he were imprisoned for his wife’s murder.
In the final moments, we see Yalin’s neighbors finding a load of cash in a wooden barrel. Later, Salami arrives at Yalin’s house and interacts with the former businessman. It is implied that Salami is here to arrest Yalin. However, Salami implies that he will close the investigation into the recent disappearances since the people who went missing likely moved to a new country. Salami’s words seemingly confirm that he accepted the money left by Yalin in the barrel as a bribe for closing the investigation. Furthermore, some other town residents also receive a share of the money to hide Yalin’s crimes.
Ultimately, Yalin gets away with all his crimes by simply throwing money at his problems. Yalin successfully creates a new life for himself in the small village. Moreover, the ending seemingly suggests that Yalin worked with the townsfolk to deduce the whistleblower’s identity, which caused his downfall. The climax highlights the townsfolk’s inherent greed, making them side with the man they hate until they receive money from him. Thus, by using people’s greed against them, Yalin escapes all accountability and legal repercussions of his crimes.
Read More: Where Was Netflix’s Chokehold Filmed?
