Based on its premise, the most surprising things about Crossing is just how un-cutesy it is and that avoids all of the shallow 'goodness' and one-dimensionality in texts such as 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. And it does this without leaning too much into a film of despair as well.
To my eye, however, this is a lesser work than And Then We Danced (2019), perhaps because there is a sense that there are too many characters and too many stories in play. This might in fact be an accurate representation of reality (and a deliberate decision by Akin), especially in a city such as Istanbul due to its unique combination of size, location, demography, politics, ethnography and migrant population, etc. But it limits this particular film's ability to climb the hill to the next level.
A commenter on Letterboxd suggests that it is "Georgian Timothée Chalamet and Meryl Streep". But it feels much more like Georgian Gena Rowlands to me... especially when I think of Gloria (1980).
Synopsis: Lia, a retired teacher from Georgia, learns from her young neighbor, Achi, that her long-lost transgender niece, Tekla, has crossed the border into Turkey. In search of Tekla, Lia travels to Istanbul with the unpredictable Achi, where they explore the hidden depths of the city.