Directed by: Tiina Lymi
Written by: Nina Laurio & Tiina Lymi
Katri finds out that his boyfriend has been living a secret double life with an Estonian woman. She finds a bag of money and receipts and decides to make a run for it. She is accompanied by a little girl named Anna running away from her criminal stepfather. Together they decide to head to Anna's grandmother's house.
I saw the trailer for this movie earlier this year in the theatres. I meant to go see it, but eventually forgot. I'm usually not interested in Finnish movies, but the story of Äkkilähtö (in English it basically means "last minute travel deal", literally "sudden departure", but apparently the English title is "Last Minute" according to Letterboxd) seemed interesting, so I decided to rent and watch it.
The reason why I'm mostly avoiding Finnish movies is the dialogue. It's very hard to make Finnish dialogue that seems genuine and not at all forced. The dialogue in Äkkilähtö, however, is excellent. It's very casual, and there are only few words that stand out and seem so fake. Also the use of English was weird, but I did remember I have friends who do in fact mix English words with Finnish when they are speaking, so it's not that unrealistic, it just stands out weirdly. It's hilarious to compare the dialogue with American movies. If in a Hollywood film someone sees their friends beaten up, all bloody, they are horrified. In Finnish film they just give a casual notion "Oh, you got your ass kicked". And of course writing dialogue for child actors is always a challenge. Mostly the writers succeeded with Anna.
Anna as a character is interesting. She's had a rough life, he has a mother who doesn't seem to care, who doesn't seem to be aware of her situation. She says really worrisome things very casually. The writing is successful because there are scenes, during which it's hinted what kind of life she's lived. Most of those the viewer can just guess, it's never said directly or thrown in your face. The only proof of her tragic lives is the conversations between her and her stepfather Tero. The way he acts towards her already makes you want to just protect her and / or punch Tero.
It's also so much fun to see Tero try to interact with Katri's ex, because neither of them wants to really give away why they are after Katri and Anna. And actually that refusing to share proves out to be a useful way to hide something from the audience and surprise them, but I don't want to give anything away.
The soundtrack of this movie is amazing. Sometimes it reminds you of the surf music used by Quentin Tarantino in his movies. Mostly it reminds you of some kind of typical western. It just makes you think "Texas Ranger" or "Ranch". That mixed with Finnish nature is an interesting combination, but it definitely works.
Äkkilähtö is an amazing movie, and while I'd love to recommend it I think that mostly goes for all my readers from Nordic countries. Still, Äkkilähtö is funny, and it's way better than I thought any Finnish movie would be.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
9 / 10
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