FANTASIA 2021: Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It ‘Жаным, ты не поверишь!’
FANTASIAYernar Nurgaliyev's Sweetie, You Won't Believe It is a comical, farcical blast from start to finish. Wonderfully paced with a running time of eighty-four minutes, Nurgaliyev's film takes three outcasts of Kazakhstan and places them in comical and absurd moments on a fishing trip where they come into contact with a scavenger group and a monster lurking in the background.
There are two significant components of what makes Nurgaliyev's Sweetie, You Won't Believe It work as well as it does; performances and tone. These two elements go hand in hand with utter perfection. Beginning with the tone, Nurgaliyev crafts a brilliant buddy drama with a comically balanced script; the writer-director isn't overly concerned in elevating the already strong material but instead focuses on fleshing out the friendships and nature of proceedings. This is undoubtedly where the performances must take credit. That very unison with Nurgaliyev's screenplay and his cast do an astounding job of immersion and comedic relief.
The feature is shot quite impressively as well. Nurgaliyev and cinematographer Azamat Dulatov craft compelling and inciting cinematics to create tension and ultimately propel the ludicrous nature of proceedings. A boat chase on inflatables shot with GoPro's adds to the absurdist nature and showcases the meta-humor on display, the deeper layers, and the expression of Nurgaliyev and his material.
Yernar Nurgaliyev's Sweetie, You Won't Believe It is a delight. It is a comedic and genuinely fun absurdist entity that understands its target audience with wonderful moments of comedic intent and fabulous over-the-top performances and set pieces—all in all crafting an entertaining and enjoyable feature from start to finish.
