[2] The film's title refers to a new sport invented in Kazakhstan that consists of playing chess while pedalling a fitness bike, a subject that Dina covers as the government's latest innovation for the Kazakh populace.
Dina also looks after her young sister, a lesbian activist, who regularly finds herself in trouble with the authorities and her love life is limited to a few secret meetings with her married cameraman.
Each segment might seem poised to launch into a comedic sketch, yet it is the prolonged exposition, driven by slow-burning observation, that transforms the entire sequence of meaningless events and campaigns into a punchline—revealing them as mere government propaganda purportedly aimed at serving the public.
"[3] In Review Online: "The director borrows and translates quite a bit from the modern European social-drama school developed by filmmakers like the Dardenne brothers into the Kazakh context.
"[4] Variety: "Aushakimova and cinematographer Aidar Ospanov take an unobtrusive, almost documentarian approach to each scene, which works to capture reaction shots that comment on various ongoing government rigmaroles.