A Surprising B-Movie With 70s Western Vibe Just Won Over Netflix's Top 10

Summary

• A Finnish-American action movie has made its way into many of Netflix 's regional Top 10s.
• This is the story of how a one-man army commando took on an entire SS division.
• The movie received rave reviews and was even praised by Hideo Kojima.

Action movies never get old, and even when the centerpiece is a classic revenge trope, as we've seen from the 1976 Western The Outlaw Josey Wales to the recently released John Wick: Chapter 4, the stories are always inventive. The more unconventional both the setting and the survival of the seemingly bulletproof protagonists, the more interesting a particular movie becomes.

And so, in 2022, the Toronto International Film Festival presented a remarkable Finnish-American action thriller. A month later, it won Best Film at the 55th Sitges Film Festival, and in 2024, it won Best International Film at the 51st Saturn Awards.

It's an incredibly epic story set in World War II Finland, and the action-packed plot is reminiscent of bloody '70s westerns, '80s action movies like Rambo, and even Quentin Tarantino 's Inglourious Basterds. Since it's been released on VOD platforms, it's made it into Netflix's Top 10, so let's take a look at what it's about and what critics and viewers are saying.

What Is This Action Movie About?

We're talking about Sisu (which roughly translates from Finnish as 'bravery', 'resilience' or 'stoic nature' and describes a national trait of the Finns). It was directed by filmmaker Jalmari Helander, who previously gained fame for the 2014 adventure film Big Game, starring Samuel L. Jackson.

The action of Sisu takes place in 1944, when Finland, having won a bloody war with the Soviet Union, is now experiencing a Nazi invasion. At the center of the story is the enigmatic gold prospector Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), who is on his way to the nearest town. Along the way, however, he encounters a German platoon led by a ruthless SS officer (Aksel Hennie). After learning that Aatami has gold, they begin to hunt for it.

But only the Nazis don't know who they're up against, because the main character is a famous commando who single-handedly obliterated entire divisions of Soviet troops. And so begins a cat-and-mouse game in which the victims are SS soldiers, whom the protagonist massacres almost with his bare hands, actively using the intelligence and environmental advantages of cold Finland. Aatami is based on characters like Rambo as well as the real legendary Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä.

The New Movie Has Gained an Impressive Amount of Popularity

Sisu is not currently available on Netflix in the US — it can be streamed on Starz, or on Prime Video or The Roku Channel if you subscribe to the former. However, it is on Netflix where the film is available in many other regions of the world, and Sisu has made no small noise, breaking into the lists of the most watched feature films.

In the last three days of its stay in the regional Top 10s, Sisu has made its way to the leading positions in Israel, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and it looks like its ratings will only increase in the coming days.

Such high ratings are justified by the equally high scores from critics and viewers. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics' score is an impressive 94%, giving Sisu the status of 'certified fresh'. The audience's opinion is just as good, with a score of 88%.

By the way, even the famous game designer Hideo Kojima, who is known for his cooperation with many famous actors and filmmakers of Hollywood, was delighted. He expressed his desire to create a video game based on Sisu.

'This is no longer a war movie. It is a MAD grind of a battle between terribly cool men,' he shared. 'A lot of fight ideas that surpass Rambo, the immortal old man!'