“Art of Love,” a Turkish romantic action film, is currently the third most watched movie on Netflix worldwide, according to FlixPatrol. The movie is only behind Lindsay Lohan’s rom-com “Irish Wish” and Millie Bobby Brown’s fantasy epic “Damsel.”
Directed by Recai Karagoz, who also helmed “Love Tactics 2” for the platform, the film stars Esra Bilgic, Birkan Sokullu and Ushan Cakir. It follows Alin, an Interpol agent that specializes in Art-Theft Stopping, who discovers that a thief she is after is actually her ex-boyfriend, Guney.
In order to catch him up, she will pretend to want to rekindle the relationship, as he isn’t aware she is now an agent. But when Alin (Bilgic) and Guney (Sokullu) start to spend time together, it seems like her perfect plan didn’t take into account one thing: her feelings. So, the plot it’s set up to have a fair share of romance and intrigue.
What are critics saying about ‘The Art of Love’?
While Netflix is probably one of the streaming platforms with the most original releases, their films and series are not always loved by critics. And, “The Art of Love” received lukewarm reviews.
Gautaman Bashkara from News18.com wrote that the movie “is rather shallow beneath the surface” despite being set in a “in picture-perfect Istanbul.” While he praised the “fair amount of finesse” from Bilgic, he calls the movie “an easy watch on a lazy evening.”
Meanwhile, John Serba from Decider was less forgiving, calling the film “mostly nonsensical” and “junk food cinema.” However, he praised the commitment from actors Bilgic and Sokullul, and said the script “betrays them” due to “its tide of wearisome genre tropes.”
Similar movies to ‘The Art of Love’ to watch
One of the most obvious comparisons to the film is “The Thomas Crown Affair,” which has two versions. You can stream the original 1968 film, starring Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen, on Hoopla, Tubi and PlutoTV.
Meanwhile, the 1999 remake, which stars Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, is available to stream on Cinemax. Of course, another great option is “Ocean’s Eleven,” available on Max, a classic heist film with romantic elements. And, lastly, on Netflix you can also try with Kevin Hart’s Lift.