“In Good Hands” is a Turkish romantic drama film directed by Ketche. The film begins with Melisa learning about her terminal illness and the fact that she had only around five months left to live. She prefers humor over the depressive silence that comes after such news. Melisa did not care much about how her days were numbered, but she was rather worried about her son, Can, who did not have anyone else to take care of him as his mother did. Can was also unaware of his mother’s sickness. Melisa and Can met Firat, a popular businessman who had his face plastered in every business magazine. Even though their first meeting was unpleasant, Firat gradually became an integral part of Melisa’s journey.
‘In Good Hands’ Plot Summary: How Did Melisa And Firat Fall In Love?
Melisa met Firat when she was in search of a person who could take care of her son. As she saw his face reappearing at every corner she went to, she decided to give this romance a chance. She planned to meet Firat at a club he often visited. While they did a round of shots, Firat expressed how Melisa was not the kind of woman he preferred. To prove him wrong, she went on stage and performed. Firat was impressed. He was pleasantly surprised by her performance.
They spent the night together, sharing their life stories over mussels and beer. The night took a dramatic turn when Can’s toy, a piece of cloth that was tied to Melisa’s hand, dropped into the water. It was Can’s way of making sure that his mother returned by night to hand him his toy. Melisa was determined to get the cloth out from the water, and to do so; she jumped into the water body. She swam, reaching for the cloth. Meanwhile, Firat jumped in as well to save Melisa from any danger. Soaked in water, the two returned home in the morning, and Can was unhappy with his mother for breaking her promise.
Firat fell in love with Melisa the moment he saw how she could go to any extent for the ones she loved. But Can refused to accept any man as his father. His mother was his best friend, and he could not imagine anyone else coming between them. He was not fond of Firat owing to their first meeting, as he was extremely rude to Can. Firat tried to woo Can by taking him out for dinner and even for a car race but Can was not so easy to please. To help accept him, Firat got him a dog who could be his friend. Though Can was only impressed when he saw Firat protect his mother from a lewd man at the restaurant where Melisa worked. When danger fell upon him, Firat was quick to save Can from a challenging scenario as well. These incidents helped Can trust Firat, and he gradually accepted him as his mother’s partner. But the tragic end was yet to come.
Major Spoilers Ahead
The Plot Twist: Who Was Can’s Father?
When Firat asked Melisa about Can’s obsession with tissue paper, she replied that his father passed away one night when he went out to buy tissue paper rolls. After learning about this incident, Can was skeptical that his mother might leave him like his father did, and that was the reason why he always made sure to keep stock of tissue paper rolls no matter what. The story took a surprising turn when Can met the man whom his mother had introduced as his late father.
Can noticed his father on the road one day, and he was taken by surprise. The man, whom he knew as his late father, was standing right in front of him. He called him, but the man did not recognize Can as his son. The man in question was Melisa’s friend who left for Germany years back, and she decided to use it in her favor. Firat was also a witness to this situation. Melisa fainted on the road amidst the chaos. This incident led to the revelation of two truths: one that Melisa was sick and two that the man whom Can had always believed to be his father was actually not related to him. Firat felt betrayed as Melisa never mentioned her terminal illness. He believed it was all a grand plan that Melisa came up with; she targeted him, the businessman, to take care of Can. Unable to take the blame of pretense and betrayal any longer, she finally decided to unveil the truth.
Firat was Can’s birth father. Melisa met Firat at the club, and they had a few too many drinks, leading to them spending the night together. Firat had promised to return to Melisa’s place after buying some snacks and tissue paper rolls, but he never returned. After learning about her pregnancy, Melisa had tried to reach out to Firat, but he was always busy. So, after years, when she finally met him by coincidence, she decided to let him know the truth. Even though she raised her son alone at this critical stage of her life, she felt that she needed to let people know the truth.
‘In Good Hands’ Ending Explained: Did Firat Accept Can As His Son?
Firat struggled with the truth. The fact that he was a father and that the mother of his child was severely ill took him some time to comprehend. Though eventually, he came around it and decided to take charge of his family. Even though they knew that they had barely enough time on their hands, they tried to make the best of it by spending the night together.
The next morning, when Firat woke up, he noticed that the tissue paper rolls were gone and Melisa had left a diary. The paper rolls were a reminder of Can’s father, and since he had decided to be with his son, she got rid of the papers. Melisa chose to leave them. From the beginning of the film, Melisa walks towards the ocean, and in the final shot, we notice that Melisa is gone and only her shoes are left behind. She perhaps chose a painless death.
Can failed to put his sadness into words; he felt broken without his mother. Firat gave him the diary his mother left for him; it had hand-drawn images of everything she saw and the people she loved. Can accepted Firat as his roommate, though he had set a few rules to make things easier. Can found in Firat a friend to lean on, just as his mother had wanted.
“In Good Hands,” with humorous moments and a tragic ending, tries to put too many emotions on a plate. Even though the cast delivers, the constant twists and turns in the story seem quite unnecessary and over the top.
“In Good Hands” is a 2022 Turkish Romance Drama film directed by Ketche.
