Sisu is a historical action film written and directed by Jalmari Helander. Set in Finnish Lapland during World War II, the film follows a gold prospector who attempts to secure his stolen gold and defend himself from a Nazi death squad led by a brutal Schutzstaffel officer. The film stars Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan and Mimosa Willamo.
Originally, Helander was supposed to work on the sci-fi comedy Jerry and Ms. Universe as his next project after Big Game, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed Helander's plan and he moved on to make Sisu. The film was shot in 2021 near the Nuorgam village in Lapland with a budget of about €6 million. According to Helander, the 1982 American action film First Blood (1982) and the real-life Finnish military sniper Simo Häyhä served as great inspirations for the film.
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired the film's worldwide distribution rights outside Nordic countries, and then decided to team with Lionsgate to release the film in North America. The film debuted at the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2022. The film premiered in Finland on January 27, 2023, and was released in the United States three months later, on April 28. It received very positive reviews from critics.
Plot[]
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
In late 1944, during the Lapland War, prospector Aatami Korpi lives alone with only his horse and his faithful dog in the remote wilderness of Lapland. Aatami spends his days panning and mining in search of gold. After uncovering a rich deposit, he collects a hefty amount of gold nuggets and mounts his horse, heading for the nearest town with his dog in tow.
Along the way, Aatami encounters a 30-man Wehrmacht platoon led by ruthless SS Obersturmführer Bruno Helldorf and his subordinate Wolf, who are destroying settlements in their retreat and have taken several women captive. Bruno takes little interest in Aatami, letting him pass. Aatami is soon accosted by a second group of soldiers who discover his saddlebags full of gold and prepare to execute him and his dog, but he swiftly kills them all. Alerted by the gunfire, Bruno investigates and discovers the carnage. He finds one of Aatami’s gold nuggets, taken by one of the dying soldiers.
Bruno and his tank pursue Aatami to the edge of a minefield, where Aatami's horse is obliterated by a mine. Gathering up his gold, Aatami intentionally detonates another mine to make his escape. The soldiers sent after him are quickly claimed by the minefield. Two of the captive women are ordered ahead to ensure a clear path. One of the captives, Aino, volunteers to take one of the other woman's place and leads the way.
Retrieving Aatami's dog tag, Bruno learns that he was once a Finnish commando who lost his family and home fighting against the Russians during the Winter War. Left with nothing, the vengeful Aatami became a legendary "one-man death squad" nicknamed Koschei, meaning "The Immortal". Bruno ignores the warning, defying orders to turn around and cease following Aatami.
Wounded and exhausted, Aatami is awakened by the platoon's approach. With the soldiers' dogs on his trail, he hangs underneath one of the German vehicles and punctures the fuel tank, dousing himself in gasoline to hide his scent. When the platoon halts to inspect the leak, Aatami flees, holding the dogs at bay by lighting himself on fire before diving into a nearby lake. Waiting for him to surface, Bruno sends soldiers into the lake, but Aatami slits their throats underwater and breathes in the escaping air from their necks. Aatami reaches the other side of the lake, but Bruno finds his dog.
Aatami discovers the town has been left in burning ruins by the Germans, and takes shelter in a petrol station. Bruno sends Aatami's dog to find his master, with a lit grenade attached to his collar. Aatami saves the dog but is subdued by the explosion. Bruno, Wolf, and tank driver Schütze hang Aatami from the petrol station's sign, taking the gold and leaving him for dead, but Aatami hooks his wounds onto protruding rebar, saving him from the noose. A pair of German pilots land in search of fuel. Aatami kills one and knocks the other unconscious.
Unwilling to face the consequences of Germany's impending defeat, Bruno intends to use the gold to escape with Wolf and Schütze, arranging for a pilot to fly them to safety while the rest of the platoon makes their way to Norway. Meanwhile, Aatami forces the surviving pilot to fly him towards the platoon. Soon, the soldiers discover the airplane crashed in their path, with the pilot hanged by the same noose Wolf used on Aatami. As the convoy continues, Aatami climbs on and arms the captured women. He and Aino commandeer one of the trucks, allowing him to leap onto Bruno's tank while the women gun down the rest of the soldiers.
Pulling Wolf out of the tank, Aatami leaves him at the mercy of the women and follows Bruno, who callously kills Schütze before taking off with the pilot. Aatami fires on the plane, mortally wounding the pilot, and uses his pickaxe to hack his way onboard in midair. After engaging in hand-to-hand combat with each other, Bruno brutally beats Aatami with a static line, subduing him. As Bruno is about to wield another set of blows, Aatami swiftly hooks the static line to a bomb, dropping Bruno to his death. With the pilot also dead, Aatami straps himself in as the plane crashes into a large swamp. Led by Aino, the women deliver Wolf and the Nazi tank to a speechless and incredulous Finnish army.
Still alive, Aatami escapes the swamp, reunites with his dog, and makes his way to war-ravaged Helsinki. Bloody and battered, Aatami enters a bank where he dumps his gold nuggets on the counter. He finally speaks, asking the teller for large bills, explaining they won’t be as heavy to carry as the nuggets.
Cast[]
- Jorma Tommila as Aatami Korpi
- Aksel Hennie as Bruno Helldorf
- Jack Doolan as Wolf
- Mimosa Willamo as Aino
- Onni Tommila as Schütze
Box office[]
As of May 11, 2023, Sisu has grossed $6.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $3.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $9.4 million.
In the United States and Canada, Sisu was released alongside Big George Foreman and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and was projected to gross around $4 million from 900 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $1.4 million on its first day, including $585,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $3.3 million, finishing eighth.
Reception[]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 118 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Narratively lean as it is deliriously gory, Sisu is an inspired pastiche that gives bloody satisfaction to action aficionados." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an 80% positive score, with 60% saying they would definitely recommend it.
Future[]
In March 2023, Helander has hinted in an interview of 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 for Sisu.
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