Ayka (2018)

Film

Meta takes5

Figures

Form & technique

The film's oppressive, diegetic-only soundscape
The extended, single-take scene of Ayka plucking chickens
The narrative's relentless, compressed timeline of Ayka's desperate search for money
The film's narrative arc, which begins with a mother abandoning her child and ends with a possible return

Tropes

Ayka's hemorrhaging body after abandoning her newborn → The Reduced Human
The film's relentless, close-proximity handheld cinematography → Haptic Visuality
The recurring, involuntary leaking of breast milk onto Ayka's clothes → The Abject
The series of anonymous, transient spaces Ayka moves through (hostel, vet clinic, basement) → The Non-Place
Samal Yeslyamova's physical performance, characterized by constant shivering, limping, and labored breathing → The Smile Tax
The visual and thematic parallels between Ayka and the chickens being slaughtered and processed