Where Are You Going, Habibi? [Wo willst du hin, Habibi?] *** (2015, Cem Alkan, Martin Walde, Tuncay Gary) – Classic Movie Review 12,725

The engaging 2015 German film Where Are You Going, Habibi? stars Cem Alkan as Ibo, a super-nice young German of Turkish descent living with his traditionally minded family, but leading a double life as a confident gay man.

Director Tor Iben’s engaging 2015 German film Where Are You Going, Habibi? [Wo willst du hin, Habibi?] stars Cem Alkan as Ibo (Ibrahim), who is a super-nice young German of Turkish descent living with his traditionally minded family and spending his days looking without much luck for a respectable job in Berlin.

Fine, but he is leading a double life, for outside his parents’ apartment he is a confident gay man, working at the checkout at a gay sex shop, plodding along happily enough while perhaps vaguely on the hunt again for Mr Right after his boyfriend goes back to Scandinavia.

Suddenly things change. He befriends and then falls in love with Ali (Alexander) (Martin Walde), a blond-haired, blue-eyed German criminal and show wrestler, who is apparently straight. This doesn’t generally seen a very good idea, er the guy’s a criminal and straight, but it’s all going to work out okay somehow. The movie sells it anyway. Unfortunately, Ibo’s snoopy, unpleasant sister is onto him, and she is ready and eager to spill the beans to his prejudiced mother and father (Ilknur Boyraz, Tuncay Gary).

Telling an improbable but charming tale, the 2015 German film Where Are You Going, Habibi? is a light, sweet and sunny take on gay love, family values and homophobia in Germany and the Turkish immigrant community. It says all the right things and says them nicely. Cem Alkan is extremely personable and very appealing in his film debut. And there is a nice soundtrack to jolly things along.

It’s the kind of film where everybody is forgiven f0r everything, everybody is basically quite nice, and all’s well that ends well, even if the film wisely avoids actually having an ending. It still ends well, though.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,725

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Where Are You Going, Habibi? (2015, Cem Alkan),