Sicko (kasachische OmeU) // 40. Fantasy Filmfest // Deutschlandpremiere

For Aza, one personal catastrophe follows another, and he’s deeply in debt to boot. Then he claims that his wife has terminal cancer. After shaving her head and posting a heartbreaking crowdfunding video, the entire country is moved by the fate of the “seriously ill” Tancho and her “devoted” husband. Media stars are born, and donations pour in. A dizzying ride to fortune begins—but an inevitable and merciless downfall awaits: insatiable greed, a corrupt doctor, and a ruthless junkie couple working for the mafia drive the couple toward their doom.

The deeply bitter, highly explosive thriller-satire SICKO dissects a world of amorality, both on and off the screen. It’s not just Aza who becomes increasingly depraved; the spiral of physical and psychological violence—disturbingly realistic in its brutality—keeps tightening relentlessly, pushing the audience’s nerves to the absolute breaking point. What a profoundly disturbing and uncompromisingly cynical ride!