A ruthlessly tense film, Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s latest feature revolves around a reformed ex-convict embarking on a mission to search for a woman’s son who has gone missing in an apocalyptic Kazakh landscape.
The acclaimed Kazakh independent director, known for Cannes entries The Gentle Indifference of the World and The Owners, as well as Venice titles Yellow Cat and Goliath, returns to the Rotterdam Big Screen Competition (following Assault in 2022) with his fifteenth feature film, Steppenwolf (previously titled Nosorog, which means Rhinoceros). The filmmaker once again introduces Kazakh arthouse to festival audiences through an entertaining, thrilling, and well-controlled structure while delivering a striking visual style.
In the vast Kazakh steppe, a seemingly unpopulated landscape, violent crimes occur daily. Men fight and die, leading to a horrifying civil war. In this small town, where women are rarely seen, Tamara (Anna Starchenko), a mute woman with intellectual disabilities, searches for her son, who mysteriously disappeared. She turns to the police department, only to witness their brutal murder by gunshots. Here, she encounters Brajyuk (Berik Aitzhanov), a reformed ex-convict now a hardened and ruthless investigator. His sadistic methods lead him to agree to help Tamara find her son, exposing him to the town’s most feared gang-organ traffickers led by Taha.
Steppenwolf features no sympathetic or redeeming characters, making it an uncompromising and harrowing experience that mirrors the town’s corrupted morality. Similar to watching Koji Shiraishi’s torture porn film Grotesque, the audience feels the pain in a violent spasm without connecting deeply with the characters. While this may not appeal to some viewers, this level of dissent adds value, especially for those seeking relentless shootouts in Yerzhanov’s world.
Contrasting its non-stop brutal violence, Yerzhanov ensures the film remains enjoyable to watch. It is nasty, electrifying, with Galymzhan Moldanazar’s music playing in the background, and the price of admission is justified by the wildly merciless (and visually beautiful) final fight scene alone. Steppenwolf is rugged, ruthless, taut, stunning, and insane.
Produced by Golden Man Media with the support of the State Center of the National Cinema, Steppenwolf is handled for international sales by Blue Finch Films.
