Happiness
*Note: Pitt Affiliates can show their ID at the door of the Harris Theater for free entry.
2022 | Uzabeyev | Kazakhstan | 131 minutes
Wearing radiant orange and a photogenic smile, our protagonist is a successful influencer promoting a product line called “Happiness”—an emotion supposedly guaranteed for the women consumers she is targeting. That said, blissfully composed exteriors belie a brutal reality of abuse, in not just her own home but that of her newlywed daughter. Winner of the Panorama Audience Award for Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival, Askar Uzbayev’s searing, chilling portrait of domestic violence confronts viewers with the systemic misogyny in contemporary Kazakhstan.
CONTENT WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT AND EXTREME VIOLENCE