10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

In a courtyard outside of the morgue, Leila’s five refuse to leave until they are allowed to claim Leila’s body. The director of patient care services tells them that they need to leave because they are not Leila’s family. The five say they were closer to her than her family, but the director refuses. She reveals that Leila’s body has already been taken to the Cemetery of the Companionless.

Once the director leaves, the orderly from the morgue comes to speak with the five, giving them the location and number for her grave. As the five leave the hospital to go to Leila’s apartment, Nostalgia Nalan begins to cry. She promises that she will make sure Leila receives the best funeral that Istanbul has ever seen.

Istanbul was a city of many dualities that were constantly in conflict with each other; the old and the new amalgamated into something surreal and different. Mr. Chaplin, Leila’s cat, sat in front of Leila’s apartment door waiting for her to return home.

Sabotage Sinan, Hollywood Humeyra, Jameelah, and Zaynab122 arrive at Leila’s apartment. Sinan cannot bring himself to enter Leila’s apartment. Zaynab122 decides to go to a nearby grocery store to purchase ingredients to make halva; Zaynab122 is deeply religious and wants to ensure that Leila’s soul has a safe journey.

At the grocery store, the owner expresses his condolences to Zaynab122 and mentions the news story about Leila’s murder. The man insinuates that Leila will be punished for her sins; Zaynab122 simply asks for the halva ingredients.

Back in Leila’s apartment, Humeyra lets Mr. Chaplin inside, and she looks around the apartment, reminiscing about her and Leila’s relationship; Leila helped Humeyra manage her depression. Humeyra dreads life without Leila. She goes into Leila’s room and cries upon seeing Leila’s favorite dress.

Nostalgia Nalan arrives at Leila’s apartment and argues with Zaynab122 about her religious beliefs. Nostalgia Nolan pulls out a newspaper that discusses Leila’s murder in an insensitive way, implying that sex workers are not citizens. The trio disperse in varying states of grief and anger.

On the pier opposite to the Intercontinental Hotel, a small boat sells köfte sandwiches. A boy and his uncle wait for customers when a silver Mercedes-Benz parks near the pier. The uncle sends the boy to take their order; he returns unsettled. The uncle brings the food to the men in the silver Mercedes-Benz, noticing that there are four blood-stained angel dolls on the dashboard of the car; the driver makes remarks about the filth in Istanbul.

In a high-rise building, the young man Leila met with on the night of her death confronts his father about the sudden death of four female sex workers; he claims that it can’t be a coincidence that four out of the five women that his father had hired to have sex with him were murdered. It becomes clear that one of his father’s employees may be involved. The father demands that he mind his own business, but the young man cuts ties with his father, thinking of the kindness and acceptance Leila showed him.

Elsewhere, a man contemplates his job; he was responsible for arranging for sex workers to visit his boss’s son. He believed there was a secret part of his mission that involved turning the women into “angels” by killing them. He reveals that his partner, a cousin of his, killed Leila; she fought back so violently that he was forced to knock her unconscious with a crowbar.

On the apartment’s balcony, Nalan inspects Leila’s Zippo lighter, realizing it belonged to D/Ali. From down below, a man cat-calls Nalan, and she throws a glass ashtray at the man. Zaynab122 and Humeyra convince her to return inside. Zaynab122 says there is one last thing they can do for Leila.

Sabotage Sinan had followed Leila to Istanbul under the guise of continuing his education. When he arrived in Istanbul, he found Leila after his roommate mentioned a sex worker with a rose tattoo on her ankle. Leila did not want to see him at first, ashamed of herself, but she relented. When Leila married D/Ali, Sinan quickly married one of his coworkers; it was not a happy marriage, but Sinan loved his children. He would lie to his wife to spend time with Leila.

When Sinan arrives at Leila’s apartment, he pulls out a gift that he had planned to give to her that evening. He cries, and the women offer him liquor to help soothe his mind. Unlike Sinan, Nalan has a high tolerance for liquor, which she used to secure a job in a club, encouraging patrons to buy expensive drinks.

Nalan convinces Jameelah to come out of the bedroom where she has been crying; they tell her that Leila would not want her upset like this. The five order dinner and finish making the halva for Leila. While the others are in the kitchen, Nalan devises a plan that might scare her friends.