CineCrossroads: “Altered,” “8½,” and “Toy Story 3”

Movie of the week — Altered (2025)

After a global catastrophe, the world stands divided. Genetically enhanced humans live in luxury, while the rest struggle to survive on the outskirts of civilization. Leon (Tom Felton), a brilliant inventor confined to a wheelchair, builds an exoskeleton to restore justice and protect those left behind by the system.

The director describes Altered as a parable about a man who refuses to accept inequality and a mechanical utopia where perfection has replaced the soul.

Filming took place in central Astana. Futuristic buildings, the glass EXPO sphere, and the architecture of the left bank formed the film’s visual foundation.

Classic pick — 8½ (1963)

Federico Fellini created a film that became not just a self-portrait but a manifesto of an artist lost in his own imagination.

The protagonist, director Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), faces a creative block. He must shoot a new film, but inspiration has vanished. Reality dissolves into a kaleidoscope of fantasies, memories, and female faces, turning his life itself into cinema.

8½ is not a story about filmmaking, it is a journey into consciousness. Reality and illusion merge, and the subconscious becomes the main stage. Fellini abandons traditional narrative structure as the film flows like a stream of thought, showing how ideas are born and how fragile they are.

Critics call it a masterpiece of world cinema and see it as a story about an artist’s creative crisis, paralysis, and search for meaning. Fellini often admitted that 8½ was his most personal work, noting that many of its episodes referred to his own life, though refracted through time and imagination. Guido is his clear alter ego: weary, searching, surrounded by women, yet utterly alone in his genius.

Family choice — Toy Story 3 (2010)

The third chapter of Pixar’s legendary franchise is an emotional culmination of friendship, growing up, and farewell. Andy is almost 18 and just days away from college. His toys suddenly realize their world is collapsing — their owner has grown up. Now they begin a new adventure at Sunnyside Daycare, where laughter hides the harsh rules of its toy inhabitants.

Directed by Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3 balances adventure with deep emotion. Beneath its bright animation lies a story about accepting change. Many critics see its ending as a farewell to childhood, reminding us that even the bravest heroes cry when it’s time to let go of the past.

Earlier, Kazakhstan’s Oscar Committee selected Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s feature film Cadet to represent the country at the 2026 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.