Dastan (Danyar Alshinov) is constantly being hen-pecked by his heavily pregnant wife (Asel Kaliyeva) but is determined to go on a fishing trip with his friends, sex toy salesman Arman (Azamat Marklenov) and policeman Muram (Yerlan Prynsetov). However, none of them has cast a rod before, and as it turns out, they won’t do much on this day either. They also haven’t noticed the news broadcast warning of going fishing since three women have gone missing on the outskirts of the town.
It’s safe to say their day doesn’t go as planned. First of all, they witness a group of equally inept criminals accidentally kill a man, causing them to give chase to silence them. Then, a bigger threat appears in the shape of a scarred, one-eyed bald man (Dulgya Akmolda). Over the course of the day, the friends will have to face danger and murder and – perhaps more shockingly – have to grow up.
This gloriously gory horror-comedy from Kazakhstan may be in a foreign language, but still, the subject of rites of passage and facing up to your responsibilities are universal and the gags even more so. Much like the final stand of any friendship, these are people who assume that things won’t be the same once the baby arrives. And that’s probably true, but for all the wrong reasons. Director Yernar Nurgaliyev keeps the pace ticking along frantically, never allowing things to become repetitive and never less than absurd. The characters are a likeable, useless bunch (one ‘hard man’ keeps fainting at the sight of blood), and the unstoppable killing machine following them is suitably terrifying.
The film is far from what you’d expect from a county not particularly renowned for its genre cinema. However, the fact that it’s so well made and works amazingly shows what we know. Despite all the carnage they’ve witnessed, the loss of Dastan’s engagement ring is something that worries him the most. There’s a surprising emotional depth to the performances despite the slapstick comedy and impressive physical gore effects.
It’s likely the most fun you’ll have with a film for a while. And that title, yep, you know where it’s going to come.
