Cici (2022) Ending Explained – How did the family’s patriarch die?

Cici Plot Synopsis

This Turkish tragi-drama on Netflix primarily focuses on a family that leaves their small village and relocates to the city after experiencing a terrible loss – the passing of an abusive father. The movie centers primarily on the events surrounding the family’s return after a 30-year absence, only to revisit the devastating revelation. They soon encounter a range of complex feelings and heartbreaking revelations that either permanently separates them or make them more connected than before.

On a Turkish pasture in the 1970’s, the late Mr. Bekir rules his household with absolute authority during the first section of the sentimental drama. Havva, his spouse, despises him for treating his kids poorly and for cheating on her. The elder son Kadir frequently receives strikes from Bekir. Furthermore, he doesn’t allow his children to attend school. Saliha, his child, slips away for warm dates with Cemil, a boy who works on the property. After punishing Kadir one day, suddenly the patriarch gets ill and passes away.

What happened the day before Bekir fell sick?

On that tragic night several years ago, Bekir had lit a roaring fire in the fireplace, having locked all the windows, and thereafter he sat down to watch something on the television, just like he did every other night. However, someone within the room had stopped the fire and opened up the windows during the late hours of the night, causing Bekir to succumb to the bitter cold. The man got sick the following morning, and it was this that inevitably led to his demise a few days later.

How does the family cope after Bekir passes away?

When the traditional and occasionally violent patriarchal head of the household passes away, their mom Havva takes charge of the dysfunctional family and takes her young kids from the town in hopes of a good future. Kadir, the son who endured severe trauma as a child, discovers his voice as a moviemaker and uses cinema to communicate his suppressed feelings. This is the main theme of Berkun Oya’s movie.

Saliha, the oldest daughter, was never able to communicate with Cemil, and Yusuf, the youngest, was completely unaware of the actual tragedy of the situation. But because their mother never shares the horrifying truth about their father’s passing, there is an air of secrecy surrounding the tragedy.

What happens to the family after the children become adults?

Kadir is making a movie documenting his experiences and hardships as a little kid, years after Bekir’s passing. When Kadir is making the movie, practically all the characters are real people related to his life events. Additionally, he chooses to use their old home as the movie’s background and calls Cemil to sing the very same folk tune.

The entire family is once again residing beneath the same roof due to Covid. In light of the virus, Havva, who is now an elderly woman with dementia, has been moved from her nursing facility and stays with her divorced daughter and granddaughter Naz. The youngest son, Yusuf, is currently married and has a child, although he appears dissatisfied with his life.

What builds the tension in the movie, and what happens thereafter?

Havva was beginning to exhibit the early signs of cognitive decline when Kadir was filming his movie at the old property. Kadir’s niece Naz was entrusted with capturing behind-the-scenes footage while Kadir’s movie was being shot at his home. Naz had been attempting to capture a video of herself along with her grandmother and her mom. The elderly woman, interestingly, makes a startling statement on camera while spending some quality time with her daughter and granddaughter that Naz appears to have forgotten.

Sadly, Kadir’s feelings overwhelm him, and he is unable to finish the movie on time. On watching the BTS videos taken by his niece Naz, his childhood trauma resurfaces, causing the finished result to be delayed by two additional years.

How did Bekir die?

Naz searches for the old tape and watches it in an attempt to clarify what her grandma had said after returning to the country house. Kadir, Yusuf, and Saliha join her. The siblings see the video of their mother, who was mentally sound back then and they are moved. However, what she reveals in the video baffles, everyone.

The ignorant Yusuf becomes upset and is unable to comprehend the story’s roots. Saliha stands still in the aftermath of the discoveries and Kadir tries to console Yusuf. Havva eventually goes back to her delusional state of mind and murmurs a few sentences after everyone has left the room.

After a long pause, we finally understand the true significance of those lines. Havva admits in the footage that she was the person who hosed down the fire and opened up the windows that chilly night. In addition, she is in the frame for a considerable amount of time before the movie screen fades to black. As if allowing time for the agony and guilt to fully sink in.

The conclusion of Cici indicates that Havva crushed some sleeping pills into Bekir’s beverage the night Bekir fell ill after disciplining Kadir with the garden hose. She wished to make her husband fall sick so she opened the windows and doused the fire. As a small child, Kadir had formed a close bond with Havva since he had consistently stood by her when their conservative father was enraged.

Havva had been deeply wounded by her son’s suffering at the hands of his dad. Although she was unable to foresee his eventual demise, she did deliberately want him to spend the entire night outside in the cold and get sick. Yusuf and Saliha were upset after they learn the truth. Contrarily, Kadir is not shocked as he spent years hiding this from his siblings since he had previously watched the video.

Does Havva regret killing her husband?

Havva appears to have opened the window as a form of punishment in retaliation to Bekir’s treatment of his kid. Havva’s remorse about having unintentionally murdered her spouse persisted and intensified over time. She loved Bekir more in her final years because she was full of guilt. She could not even endure the pain and guilt of playing the wife in Kadir’s movie. Furthermore, she didn’t want her kid to disrespect his father in his movie.

Even though it appeared to be a symptom of her disorder at that point, Havva would always spit at and criticize her reflection in a mirror throughout her later years, this behavior was motivated by her own conscience as well. Towards the movie’s ending, too, the elderly woman approaches the paused tape of her admitting her guilt to Naz, and Havva goes on to shame her picture and also weeps for herself.

Havva’s revelation also gives context to the incident where she wept by her husband’s side while he was dying. Those were feelings of guilt instead of tears of sadness. Does the widowed woman regret killing her husband? Her three kids will most likely never receive a straightforward answer because of her dementia.