The Nazis steal gold nuggets from a solitary prospector. They quickly discover that they have just tangled with a legendary ex-commando who possesses unimaginable determination to kill everyone in his path to get his gold back. A film by Jalmari Helander, starring Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo, and Onni Tommila.

The second World War is coming to an end in 1944, Finland and the Soviet Union have signed the Moscow Armistice which decree that Finland must disarm the Nazis and drive them out of Lapland. The Nazis adopt a scorched earth tactic and destroy all roads, bridges, villages and towns in their path.

Deep in the wilderness of Lapland, there is a man who has decided to leave the war behind him for good. A gold prospector Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) who live alone with his horse and his beloved dog has luckily uncovered a rich gold deposit.

Lapland is Finland’s northernmost region, a sparsely populated area bordering Sweden, Norway, Russia and the Baltic Sea. It’s known for its vast subarctic wilderness.

A gold prospector Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) uncovers a rich gold deposit. He puts a large amount of gold nuggets in several saddlebags before heading to the bank in the nearest town.

On his way, he encounters a group of Nazi soldiers who stop him. Soon they find out about his gold nuggets and decide to execute him on the spot, so they can keep all gold nuggets for themselves. However Aatami quickly kills them, but their leader SS Obersturmführer Bruno Helldorf (Aksel Hennie) overhears the gunshots.

Bruno commands his platoon to circle back only to discover the massacre and a gold nugget on the body of his soldier, he then realizes that the man who has ridden a horse past them earlier must be the person who killed his soldiers.

Bruno goes after Aatami on the tank, driving him into a minefield where Aatami’s horse is killed by a landmine. Aatami throws a rock to detonates another mine to create a diversion and make his escape.

While tracking down Aatami, Bruno’s second-in-command Wolf (Jack Doolan) receives radio transmission from the General ordering them to turn back and head to Norway immediately. They learn that dog tag they retrieved belongs to a man named Aatami Korpi. He was a Finnish commando, the most feared in his unit, he fought in the Winter War and lost his home and his family to the Russians. He became a ruthless vengeful soldier who took orders from no one, a one-man death squad who killed over 300 Russian soldiers. The Russians call him, Коще́й (Koschei – The Immortal). SS Obersturmführer Bruno Helldorf doesn’t believe the story, so he defies the retreat order and goes after Aatami to take his gold nuggets.

Action thriller film written and directed by Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander works wonderfully with simple story yet incredible captivating. I love how the film doesn’t entire focus on the protagonist, the first half is about the ruthless Nazi commander and his platoon trying to hunt down our protagonist with everything they’ve got.

Visual cues such as animals, objects and scars are stylishly used to create character depth and give us more information about his state of mind without him actually saying anything. SISU is a violent film done right, which is rare these days. The film features bloody inventive kills with some of the most thrilling fight sequences since JOHN WICK.

SISU premiered at Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2022. The film was theatrically released in Finland on 27 January 2023. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired the film’s worldwide distribution rights. SISU had its theatrical release in the United States on 28 April.