Sicko

Although Azamat and Tansholpan drive the mantras of the late-capitalist grindset into each other’s heads—“new day, new opportunity!”—financially, they’re on their last leg. Eventually, a little white lie gives the couple a lucrative idea: she shaves her head and pretends to have cancer, while he markets her (apparent) pain on social media by starting a crowdfunding campaign. Soon, they’re rich and famous—but their downfall is just around the corner. In his caustic, shrill satire, Aitore Zholdaskali grabs the system by the balls and exhibits both self-exploitation and self-promotion as symptoms of a doomed society in which money has long ruled over morality. Not least because of its graphic depictions of violence, Sicko is a provocative and shocking movie definitely worth seeing. (Markus Keuschnigg)