Runtime: 85 minutes
Directed by: Taneli Mustonen
Starring: Nelly Hirst-Gee, Mimosa Willamo, Mikael Gabriel, Santeri Helinheimo Mantyla
From: Don Films/Munchhausen Productions
Starting now on Letterboxd is a yearly tradition, as I explain below... this is from both Finland and Estonia:
As I've always done, whenever it's time for people on Letterboxd to do these March Around the World events where people watch a bunch of foreign films, I unofficially participate. I always enjoy seeing everyone's lists but I do my own thing and I won't be going foreign every day of the month. I also don't pick beforehand what I'll be seeing; I do things on the fly.
This film, I heard about earlier in the year; there was enough praise where it captured my attention. Recently I signed up for Shudder again for a month via Amazon. As I haven't exactly seen a lot of films from either Finland or Estonia, it was a natural I'd see it sometime this month. This is based on the real life murders that happened in Lake Bodom, Finland back in 1960; it's still unknown whom attacked four teenagers camping by the lake and killed three of them. The lone survivor was accused but never convicted, and there have been plenty of suspects yet there's no solid theory as to who was the perpetrator.
The plot of this movie: four teenagers go camping by Lake Bodom, two boys and two girls. One of the guys is obsessed about the case so his explanation for getting them there... kind of flimsy but it doesn't really matter anyhow. The other guy has neck tattoos and well, he's a teenage male so of course he wants to get laid. One girl is a tomboy and the other is someone who recently was involved in a scandal. Naturally, things go wrong...
I'll mention right away that this isn't just a slasher; the movie is more than that. I was spoiler-free going into this so I'll do the same for everyone reading this. I'll just say there was a big twist that I knew right away would not make some people happy, as it's an old trope. In fact I saw a very popular reviewer here on Letterboxd (one with thousand of followers) note the same and it made them hate the movie. I can comprehend them having such a strong reaction. I'll say the movie is not the most credible or logical.
Yet I can still say it's fine despite my concerns about the plot. Much of the movie is only those 4 characters (or less) and those Finns all do a nice job performance-wise. The real highlights are the synth score and the great cinematography; much of this was set at night and yet it was lit up beautifully, making the woods look very pretty. All that makes up for what may be seen as story flaws. Of course your mileage may vary.
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