Roots

Roots (2024) is a Kazakh war drama from director Ilya Tauchelov you can watch online on iFILM. Running a full 137 minutes, it traces one man's life through a war that strips away nearly everything he has — except the bond to where he comes from.

Orphaned young, Kasym grows up in a boarding school. There he finds real friendship and, almost by accident, turns into a sharp marksman — a skill that will soon decide whether he lives. From there the film follows him into adulthood: a first love, then the front lines of the 1940s, where a boy is forced to become a man through heroism, loss and betrayal. What keeps him human is a "thread" reaching back to his family and the values his ancestors stood on.

Shot in Kazakhstan, the picture is less about battles than about what a person carries inside when the world around them falls apart. Daniyar Tazhenov, Aleksei Bardukov and Dina Tasbulatova lead the cast. A slow-burning war story with a distinct national voice — for viewers who prefer reflection over spectacle. Stream Roots (2024) online on iFILM.