Abandoned by vacationers, distressed and angry dogs roam the streets of a seaside town, but a far worse fate awaits them. Just like soldiers sent to combat, good-for-nothing elderly folk, women slaughtered by gender inequality and refugees fleeing war. Shot along the Aegean coast around Foça, writer-director Handan İpekçi’s short film The Payoff is an allegorical narrative based on symbols and sounds that create feelings of indifference, alienation, despair and confinement. The natural sounds, sound effects, and music are enhanced by a total lack of dialogue in the film and an austere colour pallete to create a dystopic atmosphere that is augmented by howling winds, barking dogs, wild waves crashing on the shore, the noise of military training from the barracks on the other side of the mountain. Although the film is set in the seaside town of Foça on the Aegean coast of Turkey, the figures and dystopian atmosphere present a view of the world at large. The Payoff had its Turkish premiere at the Istanbul Film Festival in 2023 and has won awards at various festivals in Turkey and Europe, including the Grand Prize at the Aix-en-Provence Tous Courts Short Film Festival in France and a Special Mention at the Austrian Film Festival.