This article attempts to interpret Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s award‐winning film Distant Uzak through a discussion of social and cultural theory. Distant subtly chronicles the nature of the “distance” between two as individuals, between them and the other people in their lives, between them and strangers in their neighborhood, and between them and their country. They are essentially lost souls with little hope of resolving their problems and washing away their bitterness. To offer a systematic account of the film, the article especially elaborates on the concepts of time‐image, isolated modern life and urban solitude, and the direct link between dirt and strangeness.