Selim and Muazzez are a happily married couple. One fateful day, Muazzez makes a blunder that hurts Selim, leading to an abrupt breakup. During their months-long period of ambiguous separation, Selim discovers his kidneys have failed.

Love is a chess match in Muhammed Günaydın’s searing short, a game where pride and vulnerability collide. Through its devastating meditation on interdependence, Zugzwang reveals the fragile balance between ego and devotion with razor-sharp focus, in a breathtaking tale of marital resilience.