Netflix has released a trailer for new Turkish TV series A Round of Applause, which looks like an odd and original drama we absolutely can’t wait to watch. We don’t have many details about it yet, but Netflix has published this bizarre and compelling synopsis: “Struggling with existential angst and longing for his past life in an orange, a man navigates his quirky family in this decades-spanning drama.”
The trailer (see below) on its own is a bit of an enigma, but pairing it with the synopsis we can assume that we see flashes of the protagonist Metin’s life, including when he’s being born, as a child having his heartbroken, as an adult sat on a stage looking at an audience of people and (we assume) also when he’s an orange. Or remembering being an orange? We’re no entirely sure how that works.
A Round of Applause is a Turkish TV series (called Kuvvetli Bir Alkis in Turkish), which stars actors Aslıhan Gürbüz, Fatih Artman and Cihat Suvarioglu in the leading roles. It's written and directed by Turkish director Berkun Oya, who was behind the 2022 Netflix movie Cici and has won multiple awards for his theater writing and directing over the years.
The first episode will land on Netflix on February 29, 2024. We’re not sure when the next episode of A Round of Applause will follow or how many there are in total, but we expect this to be a limited series with only a handful of episodes.
What else does Netflix have in store for 2024?
Netflix has been praised in the past for providing a home for series like A Round of Applause, the sort of quirky and offbeat TV shows that you wouldn't expect to find anywhere else. There are so many examples to draw from, but we're thinking shows like The OA and Maniac, which are cerebral and, in many ways, defy genre.
Sure, the best streaming service has also come under fire for cancelling great shows, even the good ones that amassed large followings, like The OA and Glow. This is because it's been scaling back its original output and has been pushing into different spaces, like live TV sporting events and even mobile-friendly games.
It's also been expanding its library into more foreign content. For example, earlier this month the streamer unveiled its new slate of Korean TV shows and movies for 2024, including the highly-anticipated second season of Squid Game. It was also revealed back in January that Netflix is going to become the exclusive new home to Japan's Studio Ponoc, which is a promising and exciting new animation house filled with talent from Studio Ghibli. But these are, of course, just a snapshot of the different regions Netflix is investing in.
