Sisu flew under the radar of 2023’s box office releases, but the film has since gained cult success. It’s a must-watch for fans of revenge plots and unkillable protagonists like John Rambo, Beatrix Kiddo and John Wick.
Action fans kept Sisu on the streaming charts this week, it ranked 11th on Hulu on Sept. 10 (per FlixPatrol). Released in April 2023 in the U.S., the Finnish action thriller had a slow start but was a moderate success, earning $14.3 million against its $7 million budget. Fueled by overwhelming reception, the film broke out on streaming after that. Sisu is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, garnering 94% and 88% ratings from critics and audiences.
Sisu leaned heavily on tried-and-tested revenge movie tropes. Set at the tail-end of World War II in Finland’s Lapland region, the movie revolves around Aatami Korpi (played by Jorma Tommila), a gold prospector who runs into retreating German soldiers. The latter realizes Aatami has saddlebags full of gold and intends to take it, unaware of Aatami’s military past: he lost his family while serving the Finnish Army, and he vowed to take out Russian soldiers by becoming a “one-man death squad.”
Sisu Showcases Old-School Stuntwork and Practical Effects
Director Jalmari Helander said two scenes inspired his story concept, and both were key events in the film. “I remember having two images in my head when the idea clicked a few years ago,” he told rogerebert.com. “One of them was a man finding gold in this pit, and the second was a man being on a horse facing a tank in the middle of nowhere. I started from there.” About 75% of the action sequences were filmed using old-school stunts and practical effects.
Helander said Rambo was Sisu‘s biggest influence; both shared the same themes of survival and revenge. “The one thing I really like is to have a film that happens in the middle of nowhere, basically,” he said. “A forest or somewhere that you can’t get any outside help, and you have to deal with the problems yourself. And also the idea that we don’t know anything about this guy, we know that he’s been in a war. But we don’t know yet how badass of a soldier he is. And there’s a lot of that in Sisu.”
Sisu adds to the long list of action movies featuring unkillable characters. Die Hard, The Equalizer and John Wick also spawned sequels. Helander is aiming for that with Sisu: Road to Revenge. That film sees Aatami returning to his Soviet-occupied hometown, hoping to rebuild. He breaks his separate peace when his family’s killer brings in the Red Army to finish what they started.
Sisu is streaming on Hulu. Sisu: Road to Revenge hits theaters on Nov. 21.
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