The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time

Raw vengeance and brilliant acting in a hard-boiled cowboy film from the Wild East, filled with wads of cash and dubious handshakes. Never trust a horse dealer.

Early one morning, a man leaves his family and sets off for a remote cattle market on the Kazak steppe. Together with a few other villagers, he is to sell twenty horses. The buyers prove to be anything but honest. The man and his friends are murdered and the horses stolen. Only a cat which he bought for his children gets out alive. Meanwhile, back in the village, a man returns after years of absence. This is the start of a tale of vengeance to rival any Western, boasting excellent acting from, among others, Samal Yesyamova – winner of the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress in 2018 for Ayka (GFF 2019).

• Freddy Olsson