Ayka

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Ayka

2018

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Leslie Felperin

Hollywood Reporter

Dvortsevoy deserves praise for making a film willing to show a woman ready to do anything she can to live, unafraid if those choices make her character unsympathetic.

May 18, 2018

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Dvortsevoy, with dense aesthetics and cold atmospheres, offers here a heartbreaking portrait of immigration and maternal sacrifices, which often raises its quota of realism with a rather organic performance by Samal Yeslyamova. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Oct 17, 2024

Full Review

Tom O'Brien

Next Best Picture

Yeslyamova's Ayka is the focus of almost every scene, allowing the actress to move from showing bitter tears to becoming doggedly determined, sometimes even within the course of one scene.

Rated: 7/10

Jun 14, 2022

Full Review

Ignacio Pablo Rico

El antepenúltimo mohicano

The ambiguity that surrounds this desperate woman [is] never approached by Dvortsevoy with false bourgeois compassion. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 3/5

Jul 24, 2020

Full Review

Matt Cipolla

Film Monthly

Ayka may be depressed and chronically enfeebled, but she surely isn't bored. The audience, however? That's another conclusion to come to.

Rated: 2/5

Jul 24, 2020

Full Review

Daniel de Partearroyo

Cinemanía (Spain)

Samal Yeslyamova, who debuted as an actress in [Sergey]Dvortsevoy's previous film (Tulpan, 2008) embodies... theoretical and material angst. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 3/5

Jul 7, 2020

Full Review

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Audience Member

With 'Ayka', director Sergei Dvortsevoy has proven to be a contemporary master of the classic impetus of Russian art: depicting the depths of human suffering, despair, and the lengths at which one might go to simply remain alive. Leading actress Samal Yeslyamova goes beyond mere acting and gloriously succeeds in telling her story through minimal dialogue and maximal emotional performance. The story does stumble a bit throughout the first act, but it is sufficiently augmented by a gripping third act and an emotionally draining ending.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

O wiązaniu końca z końcem. Beznadziejność, pot, ból i krew

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

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Sergeï Dvortsevoï

Director

Samal Esljamova

Actor

Zhipargul Abdilaeva

Actor

David Alavverdyan

Actor

Sergey Mazur

Actor

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Director: Sergeï Dvortsevoï