Ayka

★★★★★

2018 · 1 h 40 min

Directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy

Drama

Watch trailer

Cast

Samal Yeslyamova Sergey Mazur Zhipara Abdilaeva David Alaverdyan Slava Agashkin Andrey Kolyadov

Credits

Written by: Sergei Dvortsevoy

Plot

A young Kyrgyz woman in Moscow, penniless after giving birth and abandoning her baby, struggles to survive on the freezing streets as an illegal migrant.

Sinekatalog’s take

A harsh, immersive migrant drama; Samal Yeslyamova won Best Actress at Cannes.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

Ratings

IMDb: 7.1 / 10 (2,603 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

If you liked this

Picked by director, genre, era and shared cast. Titles only, no spoilers.

• Closeness 2017 · Kantemir Balagov · IMDb 6.8 · Similar genres
• The River (2018) 2018 · Emir Baigazin · IMDb 6.5 · Same movement
• Harmony Lessons 2013 · Emir Baigazin · IMDb 7.3 · Same movement
• Farha 2021 · Darin Sallam · IMDb 8.0 · Same movement
• Tulpan 2008 · Sergey Dvortsevoy · IMDb 7.1 · Same director
• So Long, My Son 2019 · Wang Xiaoshuai · IMDb 7.7 · Same movement