A trio of friends on a fishing trip get mixed up with a group of gangsters and a one-eyed serial killer in Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It. Dastan (Daniar Alshinov) is a man desperately in need of a break from the nagging of his pregnant wife Zhanna (Asel Kaliyeva), so he spontaneously decides to go on a fishing trip with his friends Murat (Yerlan Prynbetov) and Arman (Azamat Marklenov). However, while on their fishing boat, the three friends witness a murder committed by a trio of gangsters lead by Peetok (Rustem Zhaniyamanov). Worse still, a bald, one-eyed man (Dulyga Akmolda) suddenly shows up and kills one of the gangsters, with Peetok directing the blame towards Dastan and his friends, leading to a wilderness game of cat and mouse.
Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It is a horror-comedy from Kazakh filmmaker Yernar Nurgaliyev, detailing a fishing trip among three friends that goes horribly wrong. In a sequence of events, protagonist Dastan and his friends are witnesses to a murder, get blamed for another murder, and worse of all, Dastan loses his wedding ring. The end result is a gory misadventure in the wilderness, as these three friends have to deal with a group of gangsters, a crazed serial killer, and even a perverted gas station attendant.
As suggested by the title of the film, Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It is a horror-comedy about an unbelievable example of the three protagonists being at the “wrong place at the wrong time,” leading to the final punchline as Dastan is trying to explain the trip to his wife Zhanna. Though other than being a bookending plot device, Zhanna sits on the backburner for what is otherwise a very male-dominated film. That said, Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It is still a relatively enjoyable and gory adventure.
Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It is streaming as part of the virtual 2021 Fantasia Film Festival
Related Links
- Toronto After Dark 2012: Sushi Girl
- Hot Docs 2018: Mr Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End
- The Trip
- Hot Docs 2015: Possessed by Djinn
