The Gift (2019) Review: Myth Beneath Istanbul

Is The Gift worth watching?

Mostly yes. The Gift is an absorbing, genuinely unusual fantasy mystery that roots its mythology in real Anatolian archaeology, and Beren Saat gives it a committed, magnetic centre. Its first season is the strongest, with a slow-burning sense of wonder and dread. The reservation is that the later seasons pile on alternate realities and cosmic stakes until the story becomes harder to follow than it is rewarding.

What is The Gift about?

Atiye (Saat) is an Istanbul painter who has been drawing the same mysterious symbol since childhood without knowing why. When that symbol is uncovered at Göbekli Tepe, the ancient site often described as the world’s oldest temple, she is drawn into the excavation and into questions about her family’s past that she has never been allowed to ask. Mehmet Günsür plays an archaeologist working at the dig, Metin Akdülger the man in Atiye’s life in Istanbul, and Melisa Şenolsun her sister.

The Gift is a Turkish series in Turkish, created by Nuran Evren Şit and adapted from a novel. It was Netflix’s second Turkish original, and it blends archaeology, reincarnation and family secrets into something closer to mystical drama than conventional fantasy. This review covers the complete show: three seasons and 24 episodes released between 2019 and 2021, with the story concluded.

Göbekli Tepe as a character

The show’s most distinctive asset is its setting. Moving between modern Istanbul and the sun-baked excavation site in south-eastern Turkey, it uses the real mystery of Göbekli Tepe, a prehistoric monument that predates writing and agriculture, as the anchor for its invented mythology. That grounding gives the early episodes an eerie plausibility, and the landscape photography makes the ancient stones feel both beautiful and threatening.

The series is also striking to look at in its quieter moments. Atiye’s paintings, her studio and her dreams are rendered with care, and the recurring symbol becomes a genuinely unsettling visual motif.

Beren Saat carries the metaphysics

Saat, one of Turkey’s best-known television stars, plays Atiye with restless intensity. She is required to hold together a romance, a family drama and an increasingly abstract spiritual quest, and she brings emotional conviction even when the script asks her to deliver exposition about destiny and the nature of reality. Günsür provides a calmer presence as the archaeologist, and the pull between the two characters is one of the show’s more engaging threads.

The family secrets that surface in the first season are the most satisfying material, because they tie the grand mythology to recognisable human emotions: loss, guilt and the stories parents choose not to tell.

When the mystery turns maze

The first season sets up its puzzle with patience. The second and third seasons open it up with alternate timelines and bigger metaphysical ideas, and the storytelling becomes much harder to track. Some viewers will enjoy the ambition; others will feel the show loses its emotional anchor as it chases cosmic answers. The dialogue can also turn solemn and abstract at exactly the moments the plot needs clarity.

Who should watch The Gift?

It suits viewers who enjoy mystical mysteries, stories about ancient civilisations and reincarnation, and slow-building international drama. At 24 episodes in three seasons, it is a manageable commitment, and the first season works well on its own for anyone who prefers a tighter story. Expect some violence, disturbing imagery and mature themes rather than anything relentlessly graphic.

If you enjoy it, try these next from the mystery shelf:

• The Protector, Netflix’s first Turkish original, for a more action-driven Istanbul fantasy steeped in legend.
• The Ghost Bride for another short, beautifully designed mystery that crosses between worlds.
• More international series on the Netflix hub.

The verdict

The Gift is an ambitious, handsome and often haunting mystery that makes brilliant use of a real archaeological wonder, with Beren Saat holding it together. Its later seasons tangle themselves in their own mythology, but the first remains a strikingly original piece of Turkish television.

Rating: 3.5/5