Steppenwolf

Director Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s Steppenwolf (2024) is playing with dynamite, incorporating modern and classic film iconography while attempting to comfortably (or very uncomfortably at times) revive an almost extinct film genre: the Euro-western.  Filmed in the barren expanse of Kazakhstan, this is a near-future frontier just as dangerous as anything in the Sergio Leone / George Miller playbook. Yerzhanov’s canvas may be a bit more confining, less operatic in execution, but still fascinating in the attempt.

Wandering an unexplained war zone full of criminals and dirty cops, Tamara (Anna Starchenko) is searching for her son, a task made even more challenging by her mental and verbal disabilities.  She crosses paths with Brajyuk (Berik Aitzhanov), a professional torturer on loan to the police, who has a mysterious agenda of his own.  The duo scavenges their way across the landscape in hopes of achieving their goals…and settling some scores.

From the get-go it’s obvious that Yerzhanov has done his homework. The famous “doorway” shot from John Ford’s The Searchers is used not once but twice.  Gunfights are quick, bloody and downright mean except for a spinning top gimmick that echoes the music box from Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West.  And the low angle apocalyptic pavement shots combined with Brajyuk’s leather outfit is an undiluted tribute to the Mad Max saga (he even gets behind the wheel of a tanker truck, for heck’s sake!)

All this fan pandering could have spelled disaster, but Steppenwolf brings enough new material to the table to make it work. Obviously, it’s the world-building that gets most of the credit. The film’s where are we, when are we conceptualization keeps things interesting for the first 30-minutes.  Then it’s up to its two relatively unlikable lead characters to take us the rest of the way. The pacing is off, dialogue frustratingly oblique, even the motivations aren’t as clear cut as they may appear. But Yerzhanov embraces the damage, never conceding to Brajyuk’s expected heroism or Tamara’s frailty.  In a world  where “good” and “bad” are indistinguishable, you have to make every bullet count.

Arrow Video’s limited-edition Blu-ray digs deep on the extras, including Yerzhanov’s 20202 film, Goliath, available for the first time in the U.S. as a second feature.  Plus an audio commentary, visual essay focused on the film’s Western roots, 15-minute Making Of, collector’s booklet and reversible sleeve.