Ala Kachuu—Take and Run is a 2020 short film (38 minutes) from Switzerland directed by Maria Brendle. It tells the story of a young Kyrgyz woman who becomes the victim of a bridal kidnapping.
Tropes:
- Appeal to Tradition: The motivating conflict that pits Sezim (and her friend Aksana) against their more traditional families and the family of the kidnappers.
- Awful Wedded Life: Well, when the wife is there AGAINST HER WILL...
- Babies Make Everything Better: Sezim is repeatedly told that she will be happy once she starts having her captor's children.
- Damsel out of Distress: Sezim repeated makes it clear that she is miserable in her "marriage" and tries several times to escape. Unfortunately she is VERY far from where she was taken and has no way to call for help.
- Marital Rape License: Though after the initial consummation, Sezim's husband seems to tolerate her unwillingness to have sex with him.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When the kidnappers come in looking for her colleague, Sezim lies and says she will be out for several days. She is later told that her colleague was the intended bride, and Sezim was taken as a substitute simply so they wouldn't return empty-handed.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Most of the characters in the film have this opinion, due to being extremely traditional. Any woman who leaves her family to be educated is labeled a "tramp" and her family shunned by the community. Some are even willing to take women against their will to enforce this tradition.
