Make Me Believe follows Sahra and Deniz, who are duped by their grannies, as they navigate their complex relationship marred by the mistakes and misunderstandings of their past.
Directed by Evren Karabiyik Günaydin and Murat Saraçoglu, Make Me Believe is a Turkish-language romantic comedy featuring Ayça Aysin Turan, Ekin Koç, Cagla Irmak, Cagri Citanak, and Kemal Okan Özkan in key roles.
Make Me Believe Story Summary
When Sahra (Ayça Aysin Turan) reaches her grandma Asyle’s house, she finds out her grandma is not at her house and her phone has stopped ringing. But she does come across the neighbor’s grandson Deniz (Ekin Koç) who had arrived to visit his grandma after she complained of feeling uneasy. Upon hearing the phone ring inside the house, Sahra loses her calm in a frenzy and decides to use Deniz’s helmet to break the window. Just at this moment, Sahra and Deniz’s grandmas arrive at the house, after a nice walk on the beach.
Deniz and Sahra share their frustration with their sweet grandmas after realizing that the grannies just made the excuse of ill health to lure them to pay a visit. However, they let off steam on each other as Deniz shares his unhappiness with the way Sahra reacted, even damaging his favorite helmet in the meantime. It becomes apparent that Deniz holds some kind of grudge against Sarha – one that Sarha doesn’t seem to remember.
Sahra Takes The Biggest Risk Of Her Life
Meanwhile, Sahra finds out from her colleague and friend, Ahu (Cagla Irmak), that her professional rival Kerem (Kemal Okan Özkan) has roped in an international model for the cover of the men’s magazine she works for. Ahu pressurizes Sahra to get hold of the photographer she has been looking for and take his interview if she doesn’t want to lose the position of Editor-in-Chief to Kerem.
Sahra has been looking for Denis Tunali, an award-winning photographer who became the first one to reject a globally prestigious award. Moreover, ever since the rejection, he’s nowhere to be found and his identity remains a mystery. But when Sahra happens to find Deniz’s agent’s number, she expresses her happiness to her grandma as her promotion depends on the photographer’s interview. The situation turns into a do-or-die choice for Sahra when Kerem raises the stake and suggests that the loser will have to quit the job – a bet which Sarah accepts happily.
Fortunately for Sahra, she soon discovers that the Deniz Tunali she was looking for lived next door at her grandma’s neighbor Semiha’s house. On a visit to Semiha’s house, she comes across the photographs taken by Deniz and finds out that Semiha’s grandson is the famous Deniz Tunali the entire world is looking for.
In a bid to make amends with Deniz, Sahra calls over her friend Ahu and starts putting together a plan to get Deniz’s interview. With the help of Ahu, Sahra tries to gift Deniz a replacement for his older helmet. But thanks to Ahu, the plan fails miserably. Ahu then takes the help of Deniz’s friend Ulas (Cagri Citanak) to help Sahra make amends with Deniz as Ulas asks Deniz to take Sahra sightseeing. During the evening, the two end up taking each other’s photographs without the other’s knowledge.
The same evening, Sahra apologizes to Deniz for everything in the past. It turns out that Deniz and Sahra used to be friends in their childhood. Just when things start improving momentarily, a joke by Sahra goes wrong when she pushes Deniz into the lake and he loses the key to his bike. It seems as if the situation between Sahra and Deniz is beyond repair.
Considering the worsening situation between their grandkids, Aysle and Semiha come up with a plan and task two local guys with harassing Sahra in hopes that Deniz would come running to her rescue. However, the plan fails royally when Sahra takes matters into her own hand and thrashes the guy brutally. By the time the police arrive, they find Sahra and Deniz beating up two innocent guys and arrest them for their actions although they get released when the two guys reveal the truth to the police about the involvement of the scheming grandmas.
Deniz And Sahra Share An Old Bond
The two end up sharing the prison cell for the night and the time spent does soften up Deniz’s stance towards Sahra. On the way back home, Deniz offers a ride to Sahra on his bike, but the speed of the motorbike quickly frightens Sahra who requests Deniz to slow down. When Deniz ends up speeding his bike more than before, Sahra asks him to let her go.
In a fit of rage, she reveals to Deniz that she is afraid of bikes because she lost her parents to a bike accident – something Deniz would have known had he cared to ask instead of poking fun at Sahra. The confrontation results in a moment of emotional vulnerability in which Deniz ends up expressing his hidden feelings for Sahra, establishing that they were never friends in the first place; Deniz always loved Sahra since childhood.
A misunderstanding developed between the two when many years back, at the time when the two were 15-year-olds, Sahra left because her parents died in a bike accident. By the time, Sahra recovered and returned, Deniz moved to Germany, without ever expressing his feelings for Sahra. Deniz, however, never forgot that summer and Sahra’s abrupt exit from his life.
Make Me Believe Ending Explained
When Sahra gets the opportunity, she asks Deniz why he did not accept the award. Deniz replies that he captures the photographs for the memories they carry and not for the awards that come with them. It is why Deniz refuses to give interviews or accept awards as his photographs convey his story. For the moment, Sahra prevents herself from requesting an interview from Deniz after understanding his reasons for the same.
However, things continue to get difficult for Sahra as Kerem spoils her plans for an upcoming photoshoot. In the absence of a photographer for the shoot, Deniz volunteers to help Sahra. Ahu pressurizes Sahra to ask Deniz for an interview as it would help her achieve her ambition. But despite Ahu’s insistence, Sahra denies using the man she loves for her benefit.
Just when things seemed to have finally settled between Deniz and Sahra, Kerem arrives at the scene realizing that Sahra may actually end up winning their bet. Kerem reveals to Deniz about his bet with Sahra and how Sahra’s job depends on an interview with Deniz. This revelation shakes Deniz to his core. He congratulates Sahra for winning the bet as he has already bared his life in front of Sahra.
Although the separation from Deniz breaks Sahra, she decides to tell the world about Deniz’s story, realizing that she has already lost Deniz. She believes that she can at least back her team by defeating Kerem for the position of the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief. But at the last moment, instead of sharing Deniz’s photograph on the cover, she shares her own photograph, taken earlier by Deniz, as a sign of respect for Deniz’s feelings. Through her words, she tries to do justice to the story of Deniz Tunali – the mysterious photographer who chooses to stay hidden.
After reading what Sahra had to say about him, Deniz decides to give their relationship a much-deserved second chance. At Sahra’s promotion party, Deniz arrives without any notice and confesses to Sahra that he realizes the true nature of her love. In the end, Deniz and Sahra choose each other to complete their incomplete lives. After having ignored each other for years, Deniz and Sahra decide against giving up on each other this time.
Make Me Believe is now streaming on Netflix.
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