It’s been a great year for action movies already, and it promises to get even better this weekend with the release of the Finnish World War II thriller Sisu.
Set in 1944 against the backdrop of the Lapland War conflict between Finland and Nazi Germany, Sisu (which is a Finnish concept that roughly translates to “strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity”) follows a gold prospector and war vet (Jorma Tommila) who is harassed by a group of Nazi officers who want his gold.
Unfortunately for the fictional Nazis and fortunately for us real viewers, they messed with the wrong prospector, as you can see in the above exclusive clip. In the clip, the Nazi soldiers stop Jorma Tommila’s Aatami Korpi (nicknamed “The Immortal” for his exploits during the Winter War), harassing him about his gold and shooting at a poor dog (and missing!) before the tables quickly turn with a swift knife through the head.
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That, right there, is what we call in the business “the good stuff.”
Sisu comes from Finnish director Jalmari Helander (Big Game), and stars Jorma Tommila and his son Onni (both of whom starred across Samuel L. Jackson in Big Game). Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie (Headhunters) also features as the villainous Nazi officer Bruno Helldorf. The movie won Best Film, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Music at the 55th Sitges Film Festival, which specializes in genre films and has previously awarded movies like Possessor, Holy Motors, Oldboy, Ringu, and Gattaca. The movie is being distributed in the U.S. by Lionsgate, who is likely hoping to recapture some of the major success they’ve had with the John Wick franchise.
Sisu releases in theaters April 28. You can watch the trailer here.