Our take
Finnish director and megastar Aki Kaurismäki hits with yet another absurd but poignant movie. The Other Side of Hope is about a Syrian refugee and his journey across Finland, both the country and the culture, in hopes for a fresh start. It’s a genuine and simple movie, played masterfully by a cast of newcomers. But in its simplicity, it elicits empathy on a subject that most of us choose not to dwell on nowadays. Aki Kaurismäki has the unbelievable skill of distilling tragic events into their humane component. A movie to give credit to, and to watch without any prior expectations – unless you’re familiar with Aki Kaurismäki’s previous work.
What it won
Berlin
1 win
European Film Awards
2 noms
The story
A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.
Elsewhere
"Running gags about oddball twists in the restaurant business serve little purpose but don't detract from the movie's essential quasi-documentary power."
— Richard Brody
"Kaurismki's unworldly drollery ... feels like it's from another time-until it's ruptured by the shocking contemporaneity of the global refugee crisis against which the movie is set."
— Devika Girish
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.
It was for movies like this that I joined “A good movie to watch”. This is a movie where you meet an author. Loved it.