Writer/Director Jalmari Helander’s Rare Exports quickly became requisite holiday viewing among horror fans for its delightfully twisted take on Santa Claus. Get ready to fall even harder for his latest, gory crowd-pleaser Sisu.
After receiving rave reviews from its world premiere at TIFF, including ours, Lionsgate emerged victorious in a bidding war over Sisu, per Deadline.
The film will receive a theatrical release sometime in the future.
Helander reteams with Rare Exports actor Jorma Tommila for one epic and hyper-violent period adventure through the wilderness of Lapland in Northern Finland. Sisu sees Tommila playing Aatami, a solitary gold prospector that embarks on a trek to the nearest town to cash in his find of the century. Aatami crosses paths with a troop of Nazi soldiers led by the vile and villainous SS Obersturmführer (Aksel Hennie). The Nazis decide to take the gold for themselves, but they don’t realize they’ve picked a fight with the wrong man. Aatami is a one-man army of legendary proportions, and he’s willing to fight to the death.
Sisu also stars Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo, and Onni Tommila.
The film was also screened recently at the Sitges Film Festival, where it won four awards: SOFC Best Feature Film, SOFC Best Actor, SOFC Best Cinematography, and SOFC Best Original Music. (SOFC designates the film as In-Competition.)
From my review, “Sisu feels like a gritty actioner of yesteryear but with a modern sense of style. Helander manages to keep progressing this bloody battle in surprising ways. When you think you’ve reached a showstopper action sequence or gory kill, expect another to come along to top it. It’s that style and imaginative visual storytelling that keeps Sisu so thrilling. It’s also in the playful tone; Helander’s having a blast dispatching evil men in fitting and over-the-top ways. Even if you think you know who will be left standing by the end, thanks to the clear division between good and evil, there’s no predicting how it’ll all unfold. It’s a wild ride that begs to be seen with an energized crowd.”
Stay tuned for more details on Sisu; you won’t want to miss this one.
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