[1][2] Selim, a down-on-his-luck owner of a clothing store in Istanbul, boards a taxi one evening that contains a suitcase left behind by a previous passenger.
However, Selim learns the owner was a bank clerk who stole the money (totaling $450,000) from his place of employment.
Selim gives in to temptation and starts to spend the money, at first only buying necessities but then gradually indulging in lavish purchases.
Filmmaker Erdem keeps the action flowing in swift, staccato rhythms that never veer into the predictable, and he wisely throws in inexplicable behavior which mirrors his protagonist’s increasingly warped inner emotions".
[3] He also commended Birsel's performance, saying the character [of Selim] is both an everyman and a fool, an object of pity and derision…a real person, perhaps too real for comfort at times, and Birsel's performance covers amazing ground.