Lovers Anonymous Review: Fresh Idea Undone by Repetition and Overindulgence

Lovers Anonymous Review

Director: Umur Turagay

Date Created: 2025-01-18 00:04

Editor's Rating:
2.5

Lovers Anonymous Review: Netflix’s romantic comedy Adsiz Asiklar aspires to reinvigorate the genre with a daring new premise but gets bogged down by padded storytelling and clichéd conflicts. It is directed by Umur Turagay, and written by Başar Başaran, the series features starring Halit Ergenç, Funda Eryiğit, Rıza Kocaoğlu, Ceren Benderlioğlu, Zerrin Nişancı, Selçuk Borak, Seda Akman, İdil Fırat, Beril Kayar, Eda Gürkaynak and others.

Netflix’s new Turkish series Lovers Anonymous is about Cem, a self-styled “love scientist,” and Hazal, an enthusiastic psychologist, who disagree over the nature of love — and heartbreak. The premise of a “love hospital” treating the ails of romance is eye-catching at first, but Season 5 soon loses steam, making for a flailing episode that rehashes the same themes and serves lacklustre subplots. This drama promises to explore love and heartbreak in thought-provoking ways but ultimately fails to deliver on its potential, leaving its viewers with a series that drags more than it dazzles.

Lovers Anonymous Review

Netflix’s Lovers Anonymous looks like a promising twist on romantic comedies on paper. Cem runs a clinic for the heartbroken who want a scientific approach to their emotional suffering, and to learn self-love and independence. Hazal, on the other hand, is a hopeful romantic whose approach is more empathetic, as she likes to think she restores her patients’ faith in love. The chasm between their mindsets provides space for conflict, comedy and reflection — but only up to a point.

The first few episodes are interesting as the show sets up its quirky premise and the dynamic between Cem and Hazal. But this dynamic soon becomes rote, as the two leads clash in situations that feel ever more forced. If you were hoping the series would go deeper into its characters or the journeys of its patients, what you get instead are the same conflicts, with minor variations, such that the story feels stretched and flaccid.

The notion of treating love like a condition — with opportunities to “cure” it — is full of promise. It could have been entertaining conversations about the science versus emotion of love, the evolution of relationships, and self-discovery. Unfortunately, Lovers Anonymous treats its premise with too much levity, leading it to a series of exaggerated comedic beats that rarely hit.

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The cases in a given week presented at the love hospital seem tenuous at best, usually not deepening the overall narrative. Many patient stories are resolved almost too easily, without the emotional resonance to make a real mark. What should have been an earnest exploration of the human condition is reduced to filler content, designed to pad out the runtime.

Backstories for Cem and Hazal offer occasional flashes of depth. Cem is a man whose past traumas haunt him and he refuses to accept vulnerability, wearing clinical detachment instead. As he confronts his own unresolved pain, his fixed worldview begins to wadge. Hazal, on the other hand, is formed by the abandonment of her childhood, which leads her to heal other people as an escape route from her own infirmities.

These layers make the characters vaguely compelling, but their growth is inconsistent. Cem’s metamorphosis from an emotionally distant scientist to someone far more emotionally attuned is unconvincing; this happens too suddenly. Hazal is quite likeable, and yet she primarily serves as a foil to Cem, her personal challenges secondary to her role as his adversary.

The supporting characters and subplots, meanwhile,  don’t add much value. Even many secondary characters seem introduced only to drive home the show’s central conceit, their arcs are undercooked and easily forgettable.

The humour in Lovers Anonymous comes across as contrived and excessive. The argumentative back and forth between Cem and Hazal, which is meant to be funny, quickly becomes dull. Their clever repartee more often devolves into endless arguments that do little to advance either their relationship or the plot.

The overblown silliness may work for some audiences, but for anyone who wants subtlety or emotional depth, it’s a blight on their enjoyment of the series. But a more level approach could have elevated the show, giving its emotional moments air to breathe rather than undermining them with needless gags.

The lead actors of Lovers Anonymous are superb, pulling their film out at least some of the way. Halit Ergenç is effective in showing the inner turmoil of Cem, balancing aloofness with occasional sensitivity. Funda Eryiğit is just as captivating as the nurse Hazal, bringing appropriate levels of warmth, intellect and ambition to the role. Their chemistry, if not essentially electric, keeps the show aloft through its downtimes.

In terms of visuals, the series has a number of creative flourishes, too, like externalizing the characters’ innermost monologues. These moments create a layer of intrigue, but they aren’t enough of them to be meaningful.

Summing Up

Lovers Anonymous had all the right ingredients for an excellent romance-comedy with a twist, however, it fails to deliver due to its unfocused nature and excessive runtime. As for the concept of a love hospital — a term that sounds like heaven but is actually hell — it has lots of potentials that this series burns on the same conflicts and undercooked subplots.

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