Becoming

A talented open-water swimmer dives headfirst into desire, shame, and belonging in a stirring Kazakh coming-of-age.

Seventeen-year-old Mila and her younger sister are left alone in a hotel when their mother slips away to meet her new lover. There, Mila encounters the enigmatic swim coach Vlad, who offers her a place on his team. What first feels like structure and escape quickly turns charged and precarious, forcing Mila to confront limits she didn’t know existed. Zhannat Alshanova’s award-winning debut grips from the opening frame, as cinematographer Caroline Champetier’s luminous images of bodies cutting through water mirror an inner drama unfolding far beneath the surface.