Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.
Aki Kaurismäki's deadpan masterwork applies his signature minimalist aesthetic and wry Finnish sensibility to the European refugee crisis, producing something utterly singular. The film's visual style — static frames, muted palettes, dry comedy punctuated by melancholy — is unmistakably Kaurismäki, giving it a novelty and cinematographic identity few contemporary films can match. The performances are characteristically understated yet deeply felt, perfectly calibrated to his world. The plot is relatively spare and episodic by design, and the ending, while emotionally resonant in its ambiguity, is deliberately low-key rather than dramatically cathartic, reflecting Kaurismäki's refusal of sentimentality. A humane and distinctive work that feels like no other film about the refugee crisis.