The issue of domestic violence, particularly against women, remains as relevant in Kazakhstan as it was years ago. Cinema is trying to respond to this societal pain point. This week, the film 'Uensiz' by stand-up comedian and comedy filmmaker Medet Kalibekov, co-written with Aubakir Yemilbay, hit theaters. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
In the plot, a young woman named Nazym (Dana Amirqul) suffers from her abusive husband Yermek (Rasim Zhubaev). She complains to the police, but Yermek is released within hours and, threatening her with a gun, demands she withdraw the complaint. Nazym rents an apartment but does not feel safe. Investigator Doszhan (Meirkhan Sherniyazov) cannot open her case. Nazym begins spying through binoculars on a couple in a neighboring house – Ayazhan (Guliya Uzakbayeva) and Kuanysh (Bekzat Zhunisov).
Critics note that the film is overloaded with plotlines: Nazym's attempts to hide from her husband, her relationship with the neighbors, and Doszhan's investigation. With a runtime of only 75 minutes, this leads to superficiality and disjointedness. Characters are poorly developed: it is unclear why Nazym married Yermek, where he got the gun, or who Doszhan is. The detective element raises questions: people around do not hear gunshots, and Doszhan instantly finds the shell casing.
The film features a cameo by renowned director and producer Sharipa Urazbayeva, who plays a correspondent for the TV channel 'Night Almaty'. However, the authors did not use her experience to improve the script.
Among the strengths are the well-conveyed emotional entrapment of Nazym and the sense of persecution in the first half of the film. The film also raises an important topic that in Kazakhstan is more often reflected only in festival cinema. However, no one has yet managed to create a quality commercial film about one of the main diseases of our society.