Kazakh Scary Tales
Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Writer: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Cast: Kuantay Abdimadi, Anna Starchenko, Dinara Baktybaeva, Aziz Beyshenaliev, Shakh Murat Ordabayev
Part of: SLASH Filmfestival
Seen on: 21.9.2025

Content Note: child sexual abuse

Plot:
Police detective Birzhan (Kuantay Abdimadi) gets sent to Karatas, a small town in the middle of nowhere. He is supposed to investigate a strange death in the maternity clinic there, but it is also a test for him: if he wants to return to the big city with his family, he better find the outcomes his superiors prefer. But Birzhan is not one for cutting corners, and he also doesn’t believe in the scary tales the locals are telling about the incident.

This version of Kazakh Scary Tales is the first three episodes of a TV show glued together to make a (long) movie, and I am not sure whether that way of encountering it does anybody any favors. It messes with the narrative rhythm and ultimately didn’t spark enough curiosity on my part for me to give the series in its entirety a go.

From a Western perspective, the setting in Kazakhstan is particularly interesting and unusual. It was certainly the biggest draw for me to watch the film. Especially since it gives us a glimpse of the local myths. I am always curious to learn about those.

But the story itself offers little novelty. I fell asleep a little at one point, but even though I missed some of the plot, it was easy to catch up with the mostly familiar storyline. Birzhan’s transformation during the course of the film was maybe the most unusual thing, but it also came a little fast and didn’t really work for me.

The film is at its best when it is funny – and it is funnier than I expected it to be. It has a couple of excellent running gags, and an absurdist touch that I really enjoyed. The chemistry between the central characters and their relationships also felt true and lived-in.

It is not completely wrong to group these three episodes together into a film. They have their own narrative arc that comes to a close, even as they make clear that there is more to come. But there is the overall sense of establishing a foundation for storytelling that comes with the opening of a series, and that makes one feel like the movie just never gets to its point. It’s a bit of a pity.

Summarizing: maybe if you try it in the intended TV format, but as a movie it didn’t really work.