DASTUR

In a small, remote village, Nursultan is respected as the largest farm owner in the region. His adult son Bolat, on the other hand, is a thug who spends his days smoking weed and drinking. When he assaults Diana, a young woman from the village, their parents negotiate a marriage. This preserves the appearance of traditional values - in return for a considerable dowry and much to Diana's horror. The wedding turns into a tragedy. In her new family’s home, Diana refuses to leave the room. On the farm, the workers see the birth of a two-headed calf as a bad omen. And then Nursultan's wife Saule hears strange noises in her own home. The entire family is haunted by something evil, and soon the only way out is an exorcism. DASTUR uses the horror genre both to draw attention to the very real horror experienced by women who have fallen victim to sexual violence and also to break the culture of shame and silence that surrounds it. In Kazakhstan this unconventional horror film broke revenue records within a week of its theatrical release and proved the box office hit of the year.

Text: Dominique Ott-Despoix

08.11.2024 | 22:00 | Glad-House (original version with English subtitles + simultaneous translation into German)