DIRECTOR: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
STARRING: Anna Starchenko, Sharip Serik, Ratmir Yusupzhanov, Aleksey Shemes
RUNNING TIME: 2 hrs 3 minutes
LANGUAGE: Kazakh, Russian
PLOT: Single mother Alina dreams of securing a better future for her son, Serik, by enrolling him in an elite military academy. But Serik’s delicate appearance and gentle nature make him an immediate target of bullying, and the principal quickly deems him unfit for the school. Determined not to give up, Alina uses her ex-husband’s high military rank to have Serik reinstated. Yet her triumph is short-lived when another mother, whose own son took his life at the same academy, warns her that Serik may be headed down the same tragic path.
GENRE: Horror
FILMING LOCATION: Almaty, Kazakhstan
To check out all previous submissions for Kazakhstan, click HERE.
STARRING: Anna Starchenko, Sharip Serik, Ratmir Yusupzhanov, Aleksey Shemes
RUNNING TIME: 2 hrs 3 minutes
LANGUAGE: Kazakh, Russian
PLOT: Single mother Alina dreams of securing a better future for her son, Serik, by enrolling him in an elite military academy. But Serik’s delicate appearance and gentle nature make him an immediate target of bullying, and the principal quickly deems him unfit for the school. Determined not to give up, Alina uses her ex-husband’s high military rank to have Serik reinstated. Yet her triumph is short-lived when another mother, whose own son took his life at the same academy, warns her that Serik may be headed down the same tragic path.
GENRE: Horror
FILMING LOCATION: Almaty, Kazakhstan
To check out all previous submissions for Kazakhstan, click HERE.
FILM REVIEW:
(This review contains spoilers.)
“A boy just like you died today."
Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s Cadet continues the Kazakh auteur’s fascination with moral decay and fragile human dignity set against the desolate vastness of the steppe. The film follows Alina, a single mother determined to secure a prestigious future for her son Serik by enrolling him in an elite military academy. What begins as a story of maternal sacrifice and social aspiration gradually turns into a haunting exploration of institutional cruelty and psychological breakdown. Yerzhanov’s minimalist direction and unflinching realism create a cold, oppressive atmosphere that mirrors the emotional isolation of his characters, where discipline replaces empathy and appearance determines worth.
The visual world of Cadet is stripped of comfort or warmth. The cinematography captures the academy and the surrounding steppe in muted, gray tones, evoking both a physical and moral wasteland. The camera often lingers on Serik’s face, his androgynous features contrasting with the rigid masculinity of the institution, revealing a quiet resilience beneath his vulnerability. Yerzhanov’s pacing, deliberately slow and methodical, forces the audience to sit with the discomfort of each humiliation, each act of conformity, and each silent cry for approval. The sound design, punctuated by the wind and the hollow echo of drills, underscores a world in which identity is crushed in the name of tradition and obedience.
Performances are uniformly strong, with Alina portrayed as both fierce and desperate, an archetype of parental love twisted by societal pressure. Her interactions with school authorities and her reliance on her ex-husband’s military status expose the hypocrisy of a system that values hierarchy over humanity. Meanwhile, the bullying Serik endures exposes not only the cruelty of adolescence but the systemic reproduction of violence that institutions inflict on the weak. Yerzhanov weaves these threads into a tense, emotionally charged narrative that feels both intimate and allegorical.
Cadet is a critique of conformity and the suffocating expectations imposed by authoritarian structures, whether familial, institutional, or national. Yerzhanov reminds us that the pursuit of discipline and status often comes at the cost of individuality and compassion. The film’s warning is not confined to Kazakhstan; it speaks universally about how societies destroy what is different in the name of order. In the end, Cadet is less a coming-of-age story than a lament for innocence, showing how even love, when filtered through fear and ambition, can become a weapon.
(This review contains spoilers.)
“A boy just like you died today."
Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s Cadet continues the Kazakh auteur’s fascination with moral decay and fragile human dignity set against the desolate vastness of the steppe. The film follows Alina, a single mother determined to secure a prestigious future for her son Serik by enrolling him in an elite military academy. What begins as a story of maternal sacrifice and social aspiration gradually turns into a haunting exploration of institutional cruelty and psychological breakdown. Yerzhanov’s minimalist direction and unflinching realism create a cold, oppressive atmosphere that mirrors the emotional isolation of his characters, where discipline replaces empathy and appearance determines worth.
The visual world of Cadet is stripped of comfort or warmth. The cinematography captures the academy and the surrounding steppe in muted, gray tones, evoking both a physical and moral wasteland. The camera often lingers on Serik’s face, his androgynous features contrasting with the rigid masculinity of the institution, revealing a quiet resilience beneath his vulnerability. Yerzhanov’s pacing, deliberately slow and methodical, forces the audience to sit with the discomfort of each humiliation, each act of conformity, and each silent cry for approval. The sound design, punctuated by the wind and the hollow echo of drills, underscores a world in which identity is crushed in the name of tradition and obedience.
Performances are uniformly strong, with Alina portrayed as both fierce and desperate, an archetype of parental love twisted by societal pressure. Her interactions with school authorities and her reliance on her ex-husband’s military status expose the hypocrisy of a system that values hierarchy over humanity. Meanwhile, the bullying Serik endures exposes not only the cruelty of adolescence but the systemic reproduction of violence that institutions inflict on the weak. Yerzhanov weaves these threads into a tense, emotionally charged narrative that feels both intimate and allegorical.
Cadet is a critique of conformity and the suffocating expectations imposed by authoritarian structures, whether familial, institutional, or national. Yerzhanov reminds us that the pursuit of discipline and status often comes at the cost of individuality and compassion. The film’s warning is not confined to Kazakhstan; it speaks universally about how societies destroy what is different in the name of order. In the end, Cadet is less a coming-of-age story than a lament for innocence, showing how even love, when filtered through fear and ambition, can become a weapon.
