About Kulup (The Club)
Kulup (The Club, Turkish: Kulup) is a lush Netflix period drama set in the Istanbul of the 1950s. At its heart is Matilda Aseo, a Sephardic Jewish woman who is released from prison under an amnesty after many years away. On the day of her release she learns that the teenage daughter she was forced to give up as a baby, Rasel, has grown up nearby without ever knowing her mother. The series follows Matilda's halting, tender attempt to step back into Rasel's life and to earn a place in the heart of a rebellious young woman who has every reason to keep her at a distance.
To stay close to Rasel, Matilda takes work at Club Istanbul, a glamorous nightclub in the cosmopolitan Beyoglu district where music, romance and ambition swirl together every evening. Behind the velvet and the stage lights, the club is its own small world: the sharp-eyed manager Celebi keeps order, the forward-thinking owner Orhan Sahin chases a grander vision, and the charming singer Selim Songur rises toward stardom. Among the regulars is the warm-hearted taxi driver Ismet, whose path keeps crossing Matilda's. As Matilda finds her footing, the club becomes a fragile haven where a fractured family might, against the odds, be mended.
Praised for centering the experience of Istanbul's Jewish minority and for its rich production design and music, Kulup unfolds on the eve of a period of upheaval in the city. The story treats the era's tensions and the hardships faced by minority communities with care rather than spectacle, keeping its focus on family, belonging and second chances. Across two parts, it builds an emotionally rich portrait of a mother and daughter learning who they are to each other in a city poised between glamour and uncertainty.
