Burning [Ot] – Movie Review | Fantasia (3/5)

BURNING is a new thriller from Kyrgyzstan (org. title: Ot) screening at Fantasia 2025. This movie offers a scary and disturbing story told from three very distinct points of view. Very impactful and important. Read our full Burning movie review here!

BURNING is a thriller screening at Fantasia 2025. The movie is from Kyrgyzstan (org. title: Ot), but the story is very universal, and the Canadian-based film festival is a great fit. Not to be confused with the South Korean movie Burning from 2018.

The runtime is just around 100 minutes, and we’ll see the story of one struggling couple play out in three very different ways. Each time the story is told, it’s with a different point of view. And also, the “bad guy” and “problem” are different for each story.

Continue reading our 2025 Burning movie review below.

The road to tragedy

With Burning, it all begins on a night dark with heavy rain. In the small village, one house is on fire, and gossip begins about how the fire happened. Or, more accurately, why it happened. What led to this tragedy?

What should be a relatively simple story is colored by whatever each person has experienced in the days (or even months) leading up to the fire. The family was already torn and depressed after the tragedy of losing a child, so it seems even more tragic that a fire would happen there.

Over the course of the runtime of Burning, we will get the story (or theory, I should say) from a drunk, a neighbour, and the neighbour’s wife. Each will offer a wildly different take on events, where only the conclusion is the same: a fire that began in the kitchen.

Who caused this outcome?

While we know who set the fire in Burning, at the end of the first theory, we still don’t necessarily know what caused this.

We have three people playing key roles. There’s Farida (Kalicha Seydalieva), the mother-in-law, who may have practiced black magic to set events in motion. And Asel (Aysanat Edigeeva), the wife, who possibly lost her mind, is making life hell for everyone.

And finally, there’s Marat (Ömürbek Izrailov), the husband, who has been so worn down by the tragedies of life that anger has overtaken him.

To know what went wrong, you’ll have to watch all three stories. One thing is certain: the tragedy of Burning involves a fire that was lit long before that one fateful night.

Burning (2025) screens at Fantasia 2025

The new Kyrgyz thriller wth the original title of Ot comes from director Radik Eshimov. I can’t claim to be familiar with his work, but I recognize the talent apparent in Burning. For me, seeing films from unexpected places is one of the great thrills of film festivals.

Last year, Fantasia was screening the Kazakh movie Steppenwolf, which also impressed me. What always becomes so obvious is that most stories are universal. Whether about tragedy, love, relationships, hopes, or dreams. Human nature is not defined by borders or nationality.

For Burning, director Radik Eshimov teamed up with the screenwriter Daniyar Bolotbekov. The result is storytelling you won’t forget anytime soon. It stays with you. The movie received outstanding box-office results upon its release in Kyrgyzstan and neighboring countries.

Burning is reviewed as part of our Fantasia 2025 coverage.

Details

Director: Radik Eshimov
Writers: Aizada Bekbalaeva, Dastan Madaldiev
Cast: Aysanat Edigeeva, Omurbek Israilov, Kalicha Seydalieva