Movies - Sisu: Road to Revenge : The Relentless Return of Aatami Korpi

By Mulder, 27 august 2025

There are cinematic characters who transcend their fictional worlds and etch themselves into the mythology of popular culture. In 2022, audiences were introduced to Aatami Korpi, the near-mythical Finnish ex-commando who embodied both brutality and resilience in Jalmari Helander’s Sisu. Played with weathered gravitas by Jorma Tommila, Korpi became more than a survivor—he was the distilled essence of Sisu, the Finnish word that captures grit, determination, and a refusal to yield against impossible odds. Now, three years later, the legend continues with Sisu: Road to Revenge, a direct sequel that heightens both the violence and the emotional stakes. Written and directed once again by Jalmari Helander, this new chapter promises to deliver a post-war tale of vengeance, honor, and survival, anchored by a narrative that turns Korpi’s trauma into an unbreakable mission.

The sequel arrives after much speculation. In interviews back in 2023, Jalmari Helander admitted he only envisioned a continuation if the original struck a nerve with international audiences, particularly in the United States. The overwhelming cult success of Sisu, which combined stark wartime brutality with operatic action spectacle, made that decision inevitable. By the end of that same year, Jorma Tommila confirmed his readiness to return to the role, while the Finnish Film Foundation stepped in with crucial early financial backing. What began as a modest €50,000 in support quickly ballooned into over €1 million, paving the way for a production that would eventually command a budget of €11 million—one of the largest in recent Finnish cinema history. The film’s production also reflects its expanded ambition, trading the snow-laden wilderness of Lapland for the war-scarred landscapes of Estonia, a location choice that adds a new layer of desolation to Korpi’s journey.

At its core, Sisu: Road to Revenge tells a deceptively simple story: in 1946, a year after the end of the Continuation War, Aatami Korpi returns to the ruins of his family’s home, where his loved ones were slaughtered by Soviet commander Igor Draganov. In a grimly poetic gesture, he dismantles what is left of the house, loads it onto a truck, and vows to rebuild it in safer ground, carrying his family’s memory as a shield against despair. But vengeance has a way of circling back, and Draganov—played with icy menace by Richard Brake—emerges once more, determined to erase Korpi for good. The story transforms into a brutal chess match of survival and reckoning, set against the scars of war that refuse to heal. It is both a revenge thriller and an allegory of resilience, where rebuilding a home becomes synonymous with reclaiming humanity.

Part of what makes this sequel intriguing is the addition of international cast members, signaling Sisu’s growing global appeal. Joining Jorma Tommila is none other than Stephen Lang, whose iconic presence in films like Avatar adds a further layer of gravitas to the ensemble. Richard Brake, widely recognized for his chilling performances in Game of Thrones and Mandy, embodies the Red Army commander Draganov, making him an ideal nemesis for Korpi’s stoic resilience. These casting choices indicate a desire to blend the film’s Finnish roots with broader cinematic appeal, elevating the story from cult territory into something that could connect with a mainstream international audience.

Behind the camera, Mika Orasmaa returns as cinematographer, ensuring that the raw, elemental visual style of the first film carries through into this continuation. The collaboration between Petri Jokiranta and Mike Goodridge, producing under Subzero Film Entertainment and Good Chaos respectively, underscores the film’s ambition to balance national identity with international accessibility. With Eric Charles overseeing for Sony’s Stage 6 Films, the project also demonstrates how Finnish cinema is stepping confidently into the global action arena, supported by the muscle of Sony Pictures Releasing.

The film’s release strategy highlights its hybrid identity as both a Finnish cultural export and a piece of international action cinema. It will premiere at Fantastic Fest in September 2025, an event known for championing bold genre storytelling, before heading into theaters in Finland on October 22 and expanding to the United States on November 21 under the Screen Gems banner. This carefully timed rollout suggests confidence not only in the film’s genre appeal but also in its ability to resonate beyond Finnish audiences, much like its predecessor did.

The story behind Sisu: Road to Revenge is as much about persistence off-screen as it is on-screen. The very notion of reviving Korpi’s tale after the overwhelming acclaim of the original demonstrates the unshakable belief that the character embodies something universal. Audiences recognize in him a symbol of endurance—one forged in silence, grit, and an unwillingness to be defeated. It is telling that the narrative of the film mirrors its own production history: both are built on the foundations of loss, resilience, and the determination to rebuild bigger and stronger. And much like Korpi’s house, carried piece by piece into new ground, the legacy of Sisu has been transported from the snowy battlefields of Lapland into an even larger cinematic canvas.

Sisu: Road to Revenge represents not just the return of a fan-favorite antihero but also the emergence of Finnish cinema as a force within the global genre market. Jalmari Helander’s decision to revisit Korpi is less about repeating past triumphs than about expanding a myth into new, blood-soaked territory. With a tighter runtime of 88 minutes, the film promises to deliver a concentrated dose of what made the first installment unforgettable—relentless violence, operatic survival, and a protagonist whose very existence challenges death itself. For those who embraced the first Sisu, this sequel offers not only closure but also a new chapter in the story of one man’s eternal struggle to preserve memory against the brutality of history.

Synopsis : 
1946. Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the Continuation War, Aatami Korpi, the man who refuses to die dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor, while the Red Army commander Igor Draganov, the man who killed his family, comes back hellbent on finishing the job.

Sisu: Road to Revenge
Written and directed by Jalmari Helander
Produced by Petri Jokiranta, Mike Goodridge
Starring  Jorma Tommila, Stephen Lang, Richard Brake
Cinematography : Mika Orasmaa
Production companies : Stage 6 Films, Subzero Film Entertainment, Good Chaos
Distributed by SF Film Finland (Finland), Screen Gems (Worldwide; through Sony Pictures Releasing)
Release dates : September 2025 (Fantastic Fest), 22 October 2025 (Finland), 21 November 2025 (United States)
Running time : 88 minutes