The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
The story's quiet power comes from its sensitive observation of the characters as normal, emancipated young modern women, with healthy desires and curiosities, whose supposed transgressions are imagined and then magnified in the judgmental minds of others.
One of the most realistic and magical depictions of sisterhood I've seen in film. The tension between the adolescent awakening of the sisters and their family's forceful containment of it is impossible to look away from.
This is a quietly beautiful coming-of-age film that is so much more than just a Turkish "The Virgin Suicides." I actually identified far more with Lale and her sisters than with Coppola's Lisbon sisters, even though they belonged to a distinctly foreign culture. The chemistry between them felt so genuine and natural, making their confinement that much more heart wrenching.