A young man gets the jolt of masculinity he's been looking for in a dangerous and unexpected way in this dark comedy-drama from Tajikistan. Kamal (Khurched Golibekov) is a nineteen-year-old who has been married to a beautiful girl his age for three months. However, Kamal has been unable to consummate his marriage, and no one seems to know what to do to help; his doctor can find nothing wrong with him, folk remedies prove useless, and a prostitute recommended by his cousin is unable to cure his impotence. Hoping to find a woman who can cure him, Kamal travels to the city and meets Vera (Dinara Droukarova), a lonely girl who brings him home. Vera doesn't warn Kamal that she's married, and when her husband (Maruf Pulodzoda) arrives home earlier than expected, he isn't at all happy to see her with Kamal. The husband turns out to be a gangster, and decides to punish the innocent by taking him out for a night of robbery, killing and sexual assault. While Kamal is initially terrified by his introduction to serious crime, by the end of the night the danger and violence brings out a strange reaction in him, and he finds he can perform sexually for the first time in his life. Bihist Faqat Baroi Mardagon (aka To Get To Heaven First You Have To Die) received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide