I am sure you have heard some version of that short story about the drowning man who kept waiting for God to help him, right? In case you haven’t, well, here’s the basic summary of it: A man is stuck on the roof of his house during a flood, and he is praying to God for help. A rowboat arrives, and the people in it ask the man to come with them. The man rejects their invitation and continues to pray to God. Then a speedboat arrives, and the folks in it request that the man join them so that he can be taken somewhere safe. The man refuses to join them and keeps praying to God. After that, a helicopter comes to rescue the man, and he declines their helping hand too, only to resume his prayers. Finally, the man dies by drowning and goes to Heaven, where he asks God why he didn’t save him even though he prayed to Him. And God said that He did send a rowboat, a speedboat, and a helicopter; it’s the man that kept ignoring His help. Little Siberia is kind of like that parable and, hence, quite relevant.
Dome Karukoski’s Little Siberia, adapted from Antti Tuomainen’s novel of the same name by Karukoski and Minna Panjanen, is set in a small Finnish town named Hurmevaara. One night, a meteor crashes into the car of a former rally car driver, Tarvainen. He wants to keep it for himself, but Jokinen plants it in the museum, hoping that it’ll attract hundreds of tourists and scientists, thereby boosting the economy of the place. But Jokinen is afraid that the security guards at the museum are no good, and he wants someone a bit more efficient to protect that precious rock. So, he turns to the pastor, Joel, since he comes from a military background. Now, Joel is facing some issues in his personal life. You see, the reason why he is an ex-soldier is because he was injured during his tour in Afghanistan in such a way that he has been rendered sterile. However, his wife, Krista, is pregnant, and Joel suspects that Krista has been cheating on him. Therefore, under the guise of searching for the thieves who are attacking the museum to get the meteor, he sets off on a mission to find the guy who is having an affair with his wife.
Little Siberia goes in a lot of directions, that too pretty randomly, and resolves them really conveniently. But, even though I am not entirely sure, I feel that that’s on purpose. At its core, the story is about a pastor who has been on autopilot when it comes to telling people to have faith in God. That can be due to a multitude of reasons. Hurmevaara is a boring place, and there’s not much there to stimulate one’s mind. Everyone is depressed, and their confessions to the pastor are repetitive. In general, since humanity is rapidly destroying the planet, it’s hard to be optimistic about the future and tell everyone to look towards the horizon. On top of all that, the pastor is dealing with his inability to have a child. Now, when Krista does get pregnant due to divine intervention (the film is really explicit about that aspect), instead of cherishing that moment, supporting his wife, and reinvigorating his belief in the man upstairs, he lets his insecurities and doubts take the wheel. And I think that’s a great representation of modern-day religious people whose faith is so performative that even if God shows up in front of them, they’ll ignore Him because they’ve become so addicted to their cyclical, self-destructive lifestyle.
I know that I’m making Little Siberia sound like this profound, philosophical drama, but it’s actually an absurdist comedy. I mean, you have a whole town clamoring for a piece of celestial rock. Great explosions, hand-to-hand combat, and stabbings are mostly played for laughs. Sometimes the mystery robbers are bumbling idiots, and other times they can create intricate traps that’d impress the Jigsaw Killer. You have a pastor who is hunting for said robbers by smelling each and every single resident of Hurmevaara and two comically idiotic tourists from Russia. There’s a final shootout where, instead of simply ducking for cover, a character does pirouettes to avoid getting shot. That said, amidst all these hijinks, you have these brief pangs of realistic drama, seen through the lens of religion and faith, where the weight of the world and the resilience of the human spirit become apparent. Dome Karukoski’s handling of tone is excellent. The cinematography by Peter Flinckenberg, editing by Harri Ylonen, production design by Heather Loeffler, the costumes by Anna Vilppunen, the sound design by Karri Niinivaara, the stunts, the special effects, and the setting itself come together in an oddly comforting manner. I know that I’m probably going to forget about this film in the next few days, but I am thankful that Karukoski and his team took me on a fun ride that was both soothing and violent.
The performances from the cast of Little Siberia are great. Eero Ritala portrays Joel’s pathetic nature so perfectly. He got a laugh out of me by just standing perfectly still in the middle of a frame. Malla Malmivaara doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but she has a pretty hilarious moment in the finale that’ll undoubtedly surprise you. Tommi Korpela is darkly comedic. You can sense how much his character has lost, and you know you shouldn’t laugh at his misery. But the way he enters a scene and exits it is simply too funny. Severi Saarinen gets to be lecherous for a major chunk of the film’s run time; however, the punishment that he gets at the end is quite cathartic. Teemu Aromaa, for the most part, flies under the radar, and then he goes for the tear ducts in a sweet scene with Ritala, thereby underscoring the importance of male bonding. Jenni Banerjee is seductive and manipulative. By the way, this is the last place I expected to see someone of Indian origin, that too with a Bengali surname. Martti Suosalo’s existential rants are extremely amusing. Rune Temte is so captivating; I would have loved to see more of him. As for the rest of the supporting actors, I think they are all amazing and instrumental in making Hurmevaara feel alive and idyllic.
Despite being an atheist, I have always watched faith-based and religious movies and TV shows. It’s just that, nowadays, there’s an overwhelming amount of content that weaponizes belief and not a lot of stories that highlight positive values and healthy practices that one can learn from God. So, it was kind of refreshing to see a film about a pastor who has lost his way, for a multitude of reasons, and is learning to love his wife, his life, and the Almighty again. Yes, sure, the path that he takes is absurd and preposterous. But, in a time when communal divide is consuming societies again, it’s the conclusion that Little Siberia reaches that matters, not the route. Yes, I do recommend giving this offbeat Finnish movie a chance, preferably if you are not in a hurry to go anywhere and you are in the mood for some deadpan humor, unconventional story beats, and lessons on the importance of believing in God as well as your romantic partner. Also, if you are a fan of slow-paced (sort of existential) comedies set in small idyllic towns, I think you should also watch The Banshees of Inisherin, The Kid Detective, Fargo, Submarine, In Bruges, and Kathal.
