Sisu | 2022 | R | – 3.9.6

Why is “Sisu” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong bloody violence, gore and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes insinuations of rape, partial non-sexual nudity, many scenes of a man and several women fighting with many other men with guns, knives, mines, fists and tanks that lead to the bloody deaths and injuries of many men, the graphic death of a horse by a mine, a dog being shot at, and 15 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Set during the last days of WWII in Finland: After an elderly prospector (Jorma Tommila) finds gold, he runs into a platoon of retreating Nazis, who decide to kill him and steal his gold. They soon realize that they have tangled with a former commando that does not believe in dying, or taking prisoners. Also with Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo, Onni Tommila and Tatu Sinisalo. Directed by Jalmari Helander. A few lines of dialogue are spoken in Finnish with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:31]

Sisu SEX/NUDITY 3

 – Several women are shown in a covered truck and a man in the truck fastens his pants implying that he has raped one of the women. A man makes a kissing sound toward a woman in a truck and uses his rifle to spread her legs apart (no nudity is visible).
► A reference is made to raping women that are being held against their will.
► A nude man bathes in a creek and we see his bare back, buttocks, chest and abdomen.

Sisu VIOLENCE/GORE 9

 – A man on a horse approaches a truck and several armed soldiers on a road; one soldier instructs the man to get off the horse, pushes him to his knees and holds a gun to his head, the man tells his dog to go away and it runs away as a soldier shoots at it (the dog is not struck), and the man stabs the soldier through the head (we see the blade in his head along with blood); he grabs another soldier’s weapon and shoots him, he fights three other soldiers using a knife and beats one soldier with his own helmet repeatedly while he is pinned on the ground and then shoots the top of one soldier’s head off (blood and matter spurt). A man is shot in the back by another man repeatedly and another man is stabbed in the abdomen repeatedly. A tank chases a man on horseback and fires, the horse charges away and we hear a lot of gunfire zooming past the man and the horse until the horse steps on a mine and is blown into the air (we see the horse’s remains scattered around with a lot of blood and matter and the man grieves). A soldier is ordered to search for a man and a mine is thrown, hitting him in the face, exploding and blowing him apart (we see some blood and matter); two more soldiers run along a road and are blown up when they step on mines. A man is struck and falls on a truck bed, and another man is struck with a pick ax and pulled onto a road where he is run over by a tank (we see his crushed body); the driver of a truck is stabbed through the head (we see blood) and a woman climbs into the driver’s seat throwing the dead man onto the road where he is run over by a tank (we see him crushed).
► A tank, trucks and armed soldiers search for a man, the soldiers use dogs to follow the man’s scent as he clings from the underside of one truck, pokes a hole in the fuel line and douses himself with gasoline to cover his scent; he runs away and is shot in the leg, he lights himself on fire to scare the charging dogs away and dives into water as many soldiers on shore shoot into the water (the man in the water is not struck); he surfaces and is shot at (blood stains the water) and soldiers dive into the water to retrieve gold that the man was carrying, he slashes one soldier’s throat underwater and breathes air from the open wound, another soldier dives into the water and blood bubbles to the surface, and a final man rows away in a boat, not wanting to go in the water and he is shot by an officer (we see him slump in the boat).
► A noose is wrapped around a man’s neck and he is pulled off the ground to hang, he thrashes briefly and then hangs still; he revives and finds a peg on a pole near where he is hanging and he pushes the peg into an open wound on his leg presumably to hold him up; the pole shifts, the man is pulled off the peg (we see blood and the flesh stretching) and he falls to the ground. Soldiers stand around a man on the ground and an officer orders that he be shot; the man detonates a mine that throws dust around him so that he can get away, he is shot at and he uses a mining pan as a shield. A man holds a gun on another man that kicks the gunman, knocking him to the ground, where he hits his head hard killing him; the threatened man hits a second man in the head with a brick.
► A truck with several women with guns drives next to another truck filled with soldiers and the women open fire, killing them all, as the female driver of the truck shoots the driver of the other truck with a handgun, and the vehicle drives off the road (blood sprays). A tank opens fire on a truck, we see the men in the truck thrash, and blood sprays as they are struck and the truck drives off the road. A tank shoots at a man and he uses a dead man as a shield; the body is struck and breaks apart (we see blood and matter spurt). A man wakes up and sees his dog strapped with an explosive as it runs to him; the man pulls the explosive off the dog and he is thrown back stunned when it detonates. A man uses a pickaxe to open the hatch of a tank and the man inside tries to shoot him, they fight on the top of the tank with punches and head-butts, one man’s arm is broken (we see it bend unnaturally), one man spits blood, and one man falls off the tank and is struck in the face with the pickaxe. Two soldiers on a motorcycle approach a man, they get off the vehicle and walk away. A man is shot in the head.
► A motorcycle shoots at and chases a plane as it taxis, the man driving the motorcycle uses a pickaxe to cling to the underside of the plane as it takes off and climbs inside the plane, where we see the pilot with a bloody neck wound, and the man fights with another man and kicks him repeatedly (we hear the blows); one man uses a strap with a metal piece on it to hit the other man repeatedly (we hear squishing and see torn flesh on his face), and one man is strapped to an explosive and it is pushed out of the plane, and the plane plunges to the ground and crashes into a bog pit; one man pulls himself out of a bog pit and we see him gasping for air and covered with muck. A crashed airplane blocks a road and we see a dead man in the cockpit with a rope around his neck.
► Tanks and trucks investigate after hearing gunfire and find many dead and bloody bodies on the ground. We see a charred body in a smoldering truck. A man finds a dead horse and an overturned carriage on a road and a town engulfed in flames. A young man has a burn scar on the side of his face. A man cauterizes an open wound and pulls out shrapnel (he spits blood), and then uses wire to close a gaping wound and pours gasoline on it. A man on a horse passes several bodies hanging from poles along a road. A man has an open bloody wound on his arm and leg and he digs a bullet out of one wound using a knife (we see blood pour out of the craggy wound).
► A man climbs onto the back of a truck where several women are kept and he gives them weapons to defend themselves against their captors. Tanks and trucks filled with armed soldiers roll along a road and a man on a horse passes them; a man aims a gun at the man on the horse and another man tells him not to shoot saying, “He’s riding to his death anyway.” A man has a nightmare, seeing children screaming and explosions, and he wakes with a start. A man forces two captive women out of a truck and ties them with a rope to a tank forcing them to lead the tank along a road where there are mines. A man digs a hole in the ground and stops when he hears gunfire in the distance a couple of times; we see explosions in the distance. A man pans for gold in a creek as fighter planes fly overhead. A city is shown bombed out and smoking.
► A commander tells a soldier, “They will hang us all.” We understand that a man’s wife is dead. A voice-over states, “All hope is lost.” We hear that the Nazis have implemented a scorched Earth policy as they withdraw from Finland and we see charred land. A man is described as the most feared commando and he is called a one-man death squad. We hear that a man lost his home and his family to the Russians. A man is referred to as “the immortal.”
► A nude man bathes in a creek and we see many scars on his back and shoulders and a very long scar down his chest and abdomen. We see the remains of a large animal (a deer). A man spits and we see goo.

Sisu LANGUAGE 6

 – About 15 F-words and its derivatives, 3 anatomical terms, 7 mild obscenities, name-calling (mean, idiot, most feared commander, one man death squad). | profanity glossary |

Sisu SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man talks about drinking alcohol, and a man drinks from a bottle (it could be alcohol). A man smokes a cigar, and a man smokes a cigarette.

Sisu DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Nazis, World War II, scorched Earth, legends, survival.

Sisu MESSAGE

 – There are humans whose will to survive overcomes any attempts to kill them.