Ot

Radik Eshimov’s triptych of terror posits three very different reasons for a terrible blaze.

“This house started burning long ago.”

One quiet night, the family home of Marat (Omurbek Izrailov) and Asel (Aisanat Edigeeva) burns down. As firemen and police race to the scene, the townsfolk gather to discuss what’s been happening lately. There’s a general consensus that the house was cursed, and it all stemmed from the death of Marat and Asel’s child.

As the film progresses, the story is told a few times from different villagers, with differing ideas of who the villain is. The first suggests that Marat’s mother Farida (Kalicha Seydalieva) is a witch, and forcing her daughter-in-law into terrible situations while Marat is away, in retaliation for the death of their firstborn. The second repaints the scene with a new brush: that Asel is the villain, possessed by a Jinn into thinking she is pregnant again.

And so things go. The film is ostensibly a horror movie in a Rashomon outfit, and manages to tell a single story well while also operating as a very nice anthology film. Each story, despite telling [a variation on] the same story, all manage to stand out from the rest.

Director Radik Eshimov brings a sense of genre-savviness to the proceedings, and toys with expectations even as he delivers the final – and likely most true – rendition of events. It’s not always perfect, I think the second section is easily the silliest, with Edigeeva doing a fine job but also spends a lot of time jumping about with claws bared, but it ultimately comes together well.

With some great performances from its three leads (who each have to play various horror movie trope roles along the way), Ot is an incredibly compelling film that only occasionally veers a bit far into silly territory. Nevertheless, there’s great entertainment to be had here, and the framing device kind of allows the story to get away with some of the dafter elements.

What Eshimov creates, other than a pretty decent horror film, is a strong feminist message about grief, abuse, and taking a stand when the men are making up stories about how the women in town are either demon-possessed or straight up monsters. It’s a film about women being silenced, about being told what to do, and being painted in unflattering, horrible lights. And, more than jinns or witches or curses, is the real horror here.

Verdict: A strong horror film with a dark, but strong message Ot is well, fire.

Overall entertainment: 8/10
Violence: 3/10
Sex: 0/10
Tension: 7/10
Vomit scenes: Minimum three
Genres: Horror? Psychological thriller? Domestic drama?
Bad omens: buying clothes for an unborn child

Ot (2024)
Also known as: Burning
Kyrgyz

Directors: Radik Eshimov
Writers: Aizada Amangeldy, Dastan Madalbekov

CAST

Aisanat Edigeeva – Asel
Omurbek Izrailov – Marat
Kalicha Seydalieva – Farida