Uzbekistan
Review: JA Kerswell
A flashy slasher movie from Uzbekistan so obscure outside that country that, as of the time of writing, it doesn’t even have an IMDB entry. THE COTTAGE is a surprisingly violent, high-octane psycho whodunnit that packs in murder after murder and is full of drugs, drink and gambling—but ultimately teases that a strict, socially conservative ethos might underpin its bloody mayhem.
Pari, an 18-year-old K-pop fan, hates her Dad and blames him for her older sister’s death after her sibling was hit by a car while on a phone call with their father. Now a rebellious teenager, she takes a road trip each year with her dead sister’s friends to party in the countryside. This year is no exception, but when the group’s holiday booking falls through, they hire a cabin in the woods from a shady streetside vendor. They don’t pay top dollar, but the place they choose turns out to be the perfect party pad—unbeknownst to them, however, it has a dark history.
As the first evening unfurls, Pari takes a break from that night’s drink- and drug-fuelled celebrations to listen to K-pop on headphones in her room; someone in a dirty jacket and hood gatecrashes the party and kills everyone in violent, gory ways with an axe, a spear and a crossbow.
Pari only realises what is going on when she sees the last of her sister’s friends being murdered by the mystery assailant. However, the killer isn’t going to be so quick with her …
THE COTTAGE is split into two halves, effectively giving us two slasher movies in one. Ultimately, it's nigh impossible to discuss the film without spoiling the killer’s identity (so be warned). However, that spoiler doesn't matter much. Pari is portrayed as the only innocent in the bunch. Despite being good-natured enough to take their dead friend’s kid sister under their wing, the group is shown to be deeply flawed—from a banker who steals from orphans to a gambler who routinely cheats to a film director who uses the casting coach to exploit young actresses. The film even takes a potshot at the modern slasher’s most popular Bête noire: a self-obsessed social media influencer who inadvertently live-streams the killer’s pursuit and her own bloody demise.
The killer, it turns out, has targeted the group solely because they have inadvertently booked the cabin where he murdered a group of his classmates the previous year during their group holiday. In a flashback, we see him preparing to propose to what he believes is his demure, modest girlfriend. However, when he returns from the local store with supplies, he discovers that she has taken drugs and is now partying with the rest of his friends. This triggers a fit of rage in which he smashes a beer bottle and stabs everyone to death with the broken glass (presumably a deliberately anti-alcohol symbolic gesture)—including his would-be bride. In the present day, now a raving lunatic, the man dresses Pari in the dead woman’s bridal dress and ties her to a chair, but it is unclear whether he intends to wed or kill her.
While the slasher movies of the early ‘80s were often accused of paradoxically revelling in exploitation elements (sex and death) while punishing characters who partook in drugs and sex through violent retribution (arguably a fantasy of more rabid conservatives), THE COTTAGE throws in some extra wrinkles. The rest of Pari’s group’s transgressions ultimately serve as a MacGuffin, since the killer presumably knows nothing about them—they are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The director is best known for making music videos in his home country, which may explain why the underdeveloped script takes a back seat to its flashy visuals.
Whether aware or not, the killer is offing another group of people who don’t adhere to the strict societal norms of the secular yet ultra-socially conservative Uzbekistan. This raises two possibilities: either the film is intentionally regressive (it even ends with Pari apologising to her estranged father and promising never to drink again), or the punishment of these characters was an attempted trade-off to bypass censorship in the country (where controls are strict) while still revelling in more exploitative elements—a technique used in other similarly restrictive markets. However, if the director intended to use a Trojan Horse of sorts to get these risqué elements through, it backfired: the film was denied permission for theatrical distribution in the country (though it was allowed to be released through digital platforms).
Ultimately, despite its sometimes impressive and ambitious visuals (including brief animations), some good performances (especially from the killer), action sequences, and ample gore, THE COTTAGE can’t help but feel a tad regressive, which only takes the shine off what is otherwise an uneven but sometimes fun time, despite its scrappy, unsatisfying narrative. Perhaps the director’s next movie project could involve a booze-loving mad slasher who bumps off scissor-happy Uzbek censors?
BODY COUNT 14:
Female 7 / Male 7
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THE COTTAGE aka DACHA (2026) - trailer
