Turgaud

Stylish Kazakh neo-western about a cynical bodyguard taking on a cunning hitwoman. At the airport, a broken man waits for his next assignment: Bek, an alcoholic bodyguard, has arrived in the bleak winter of Karatas to work for corrupt mob boss Baylat. But a mysterious assassin nicknamed 'The Fox' and her silent son throw a spanner in the works.

Turgaud – named after a traditional Kazakh bodyguard with absolute loyalty to his client – is a neo-western in the style of Quentin Tarantino, steeped in a healthy dose of Central European cynicism. Adilkhan Yerzhanov previously directed the equally genre-defying Steppenwolf (2024) and features some of the same characters here. Like Yerzhanov's earlier work, Turgaud is full of pitch-black humour, tight action scenes and spikes of brutal violence. Bek (Berik Aitzhanov) takes his dombra (a traditional Kazakh lute) everywhere he goes, providing the simple yet effective soundtrack. Anna Starchenko, Yerzhanov's regular collaborator, plays the femme fatale. A dark look at the deep scars left behind by corruption.