Four veterans who fought together on the Plevna front during the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War lose their commander in Plevna during a raid. Years later, in 1915, they learn that their commander's nephew, Lieutenant Yusuf, has been taken prisoner in the Battle of Gallipoli. The four elderly men and a disabled young man embark on a prisoner rescue operation.

Ali is someone who suffered great destructions in his life when he was only seven years old. His mother’s death by falling into well and murder of his father by Ihsan had inflicted deep wounds on him. Ali goes to kill Ihsan and Ihsan makes an unusual offer to this unexpected guest. He asks for seven days. Life, conscience, pressures, friendship, masculinity, and regrets are questioned in these seven days they spend together.

Set against the backdrop of construction activity promising to fill in the empty spaces of the urban landscape with entirely new neighborhoods, a story unfolds of an aging construction worker who, unlike his peers, has to drop all plans for the future after being diagnosed with a malignant tumor. This self-assured debut contemplates the dignity of the individual within the context of modern Turkish society.

Bünyamin corners Menekşe, one of the village's beautiful girls, in the hayloft. While they are still flirting, Menekşe's brother İbo witnesses the situation and stirs up the village. Bünyamin has no choice but to flee, because Menekşe's brothers Saffet and Süleyman are merciless. While Bünyamin takes refuge with his mother Solmaz, Solmaz realizes that the only solution is to flee the village, despite her anger. Solmaz decides to go to Istanbul with her other children. Solmaz's other son, Mete, and her daughters, Perihan and Nergis, had already moved to Istanbul, married, and started families.

A young art teacher hopes to be transferred to Istanbul after completing his mandatory duty in a remote village school in Anatolia. After accusations of inappropriate contact with a student surface, his hopes of escape fade and he descends further into an existential crisis.

Telling the story of how time transforms a person into two different women, Hayal Kuşu stands out as a project that brings together two souls of the same woman, past and future.