action, Finland, Jalmari Helander, Jorma Tommila, movies, reviews, Richard Brake, Russia, Sisu, Sisu: Road to Revenge, Stephen Lang
November 20, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Jalmari Helander
Culture Representation: Taking place in Finland and in Russia, in 1946, the action film “Sisu: Road to Revenge” (a sequel to the 2023 film “Sisu”) features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A former commando in the Finnish Army, whose family was massacred by a Russian Red Army death squad commander, is hunted by the killer and other Red Army soldiers in a series of brutal battles.
Culture Audience: “Sisu: Road to Revenge” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, the first “Sisu” movie and action movies that have a simple yet effective plot.
“Sisu: Road to Revenge” serves up the same formula that made 2023’s “Sisu” a hit with action fans: Keep the plot simple and the kills creative. In this sequel, the Finnish protagonist battles against the Red Army death squad leader who murdered his family during World War II. This is the type of movie that delivers exactly what viewers expect and nothing more.
Written and directed by Jalmari Helander (who also wrote and directed “Sisu”), “Sisu: Road to Revenge” had its world premiere at the 2025 edition of Fantastic Fest. The movie takes place in 1946 in Finland and in Russia, then known as the Soviet Union. “Sisu: Road to Revenge” was filmed in Finland.
In the first “Sisu” movie, which took place in Finland, in 1944, protagonist Aatami Korpi (played by Jorma Tommila), a former Finnish Army commando who became a gold prospector, battled against Nazi soldier thieves who stole Aatami’s gold and kidnapped several women. In “Sisu,” Aatami was already a widower. Russia’s Red Army massacred his wife and two sons in the family home during World War II.
“Sisu: Road to Revenge,” just like “Sisu,” is told in seven chapters. In “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” an opening caption reads: “The war is over. Finland seeks territory with the Soviet Union.” As a result, “420,000 Finns had to move to the Finnish side of the new border. Most would never see home again.”
Aatami has returned to the house in Finland where he used to live with his wife and two sons. He dismantles the wooden house, loads the wood onto the back of his truck, and plans to rebuild the house somewhere else. Just like in the first “Sisu” movie, Aatami is accompanied by his adorable Bedlington Terrier named Ukko (played by Simba), who has managed to survive the violent battles that Aatami experiences.
Aatami’s reputation for being hard to kill has earned him the Russian nickname Koshchei, which means “The Immortal” in Russian. That’s because during World War II, Aatami killed numerous fighters in the Red Army. And now, the Red Army wants revenge on Aatami. Just like in the first “Sisu” movie, grime-covered Aatami does not speak in “Sisu: Road to Revenge.”
In a gulag in Siberia, an unnamed KGB officer (played by Richard Brake) meets with imprisoned Igor Draganov (played by Stephen Lang), a Soviet Red Army officer. Igor is the person who killed Aatami’s family. The KGB officer tells Igor that because Aatami is now a folk legend, “Destroy the legend you have created, and you will go home a rich man.”
Igor is released from the gulag and is given several soldiers to help track down Aatami so that Igor can kill Aatami. The rest of “Sisu: Road to Revenge” shows the unusual (and often unrealistic) ways that these vicious and gory battles occur. The trailer for “Sisu: Road to Revenge” already reveals a lot of the best scenes, so there are no real surprises in this movie.
The acting performances in “Sisu: Road to Revenge” are sufficient, but people who are entertained by the “Sisu” movies don’t watch these movies for the acting. They watch for the darkly comedic ways that villains get killed. “Sisu: Road to Revenge” understands the assignment of giving viewers what they want.
Screen Gems will release “Sisu: Road to Revenge” in U.S. cinemas on November 21, 2025.