Sisu (film)

Sisu is a 2022 Finnish historical action thriller film written and directed by Jalmari Helander and produced by Petri Jokiranta.

Set during the Lapland War between Finland and Nazi Germany towards the end of World War II, a legendary Finnish Army commando-turned-gold prospector attempts to defend himself from being robbed and murdered by a Waffen-SS platoon led by an infamously brutal and corrupt officer.

Aatami uncovers a rich gold deposit, where he collects a hefty amount of nuggets and heads towards Rovaniemi.

Gathering up his gold while Helldorf and his men watch, Aatami intentionally detonates another mine to make his escape.

Helldorf sends three soldiers onto the lake in a boat, but Aatami kills two of them by slitting their throats underwater and breathes in the escaping air from their necks.

Aatami discovers that Rovaniemi has been left in burning ruins and takes shelter in the remains of a petrol station.

As the convoy continues, Aatami climbs onto the truck holding the female captives, kills their guards and arms the women.

Led by Aino, the freed women drive the commandeered German tank, with a beaten Wolf strapped to the turret, to an incredulous Finnish Army unit.

The website's consensus reads: "Narratively lean as it is deliriously gory, Sisu is an inspired pastiche that gives bloody satisfaction to action aficionados.

"[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[19] Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com gave the film three and half out of four stars, stating that "Sisu is outlandishly entertaining, mostly because, contrary to its deeper themes, it isn't afraid to be nonsensical.

"[23] Ross Bonaime of Collider gave the film grade of "B", saying that "Sisu is certainly ridiculous, but sometimes it's just fun to watch an obscene amount of Nazis get what's coming to them.

[26][27][28] In March 2023, Helander has hinted in an interview with the news agency STT at the idea that if the film is successful at the box office in the United States, he could consider making a possible sequel.

[34] In December 2023, Helander confirmed that he would return as director for the sequel,[35] and the Finnish Film Foundation has initially granted a financial support of €50,000.