12 Best Finnish Movies to Watch

By Vlad Zakh · September 1, 2026

Finland Arthouse slow and atmospheric feel good

Finnish cinema’s international reputation rests largely on Aki Kaurismaki’s deadpan, melancholy-comic style, dry to near-total stillness. Fallen Leaves, Le Havre, The Man Without a Past, Ariel and The Match Factory Girl are the Kaurismaki highlights, Tears of April has a captured young fighter during the Civil War, and Rare Exports has an excavation awakening the real, terrifying Santa. Steel Country, The White Reindeer, The Fencer and Purge round out the list.

Tears of April (2008)

TMDB ★ 6.8

A young female fighter is captured in the Finnish Civil War and questioned by a conflicted officer.

Directed by Aku Louhimies · 1h 56m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Steel Country (2018)

TMDB ★ 5.9

A Finnish-set noir following a lonely factory worker's obsession with a local murder case.

1h 17m

Where to watch

Stream: Night Flight Plus · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The White Reindeer (1952)

TMDB ★ 7.0

A young Sámi bride's dark folk ritual turns her into a vampiric reindeer spirit.

Directed by Erik Blomberg · 1h 08m

Where to watch

Stream: Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Shudder, Night Flight Plus · Rent or buy: Amazon Video

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Rare Exports (2010)

TMDB ★ 6.4

A Finnish mining excavation accidentally awakens the real, terrifying Santa Claus.

Directed by Jalmari Helander · 1h 23m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Night Flight Plus, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Fencer (2015)

TMDB ★ 7.6

A fencing coach hiding from the Soviet authorities builds a youth team in a small Estonian town.

Directed by Klaus Härö · 1h 38m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Fallen Leaves (2023)

TMDB ★ 7.5

Two lonely Helsinki workers' tentative romance keeps getting derailed by rotten luck.

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki · 1h 21m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Le Havre (2011)

TMDB ★ 7.5

A shoe-shiner in a French port town shelters an undocumented migrant boy from the police.

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki · 1h 34m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Man Without a Past (2002)

TMDB ★ 7.7

An amnesiac beaten unconscious in Helsinki rebuilds a life from nothing among the city's homeless.

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki · 1h 37m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: Curzon Amazon Channel · Rent: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Curzon Home Cinema · Buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Ariel (1988)

TMDB ★ 7.3

A laid-off miner drifts towards Helsinki and an unlikely romance after his father's suicide.

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki · 1h 13m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Criterion Channel

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Match Factory Girl (1990)

TMDB ★ 7.4

A quietly abused factory worker's revenge unfolds with total, unnerving calm.

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki · 1h 09m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Criterion Channel

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Purge (2012)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A wartime survivor's decades-buried trauma resurfaces when a young Russian woman arrives at her rural doorstep.

Directed by Antti J. Jokinen · 2h 05m

Where to watch

Stream: Viaplay Amazon Channel · Buy: Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Concrete Night (2013)

TMDB ★ 6.7

A teenage boy wanders through one dreamlike, dangerous Helsinki night with his troubled older brother.

Directed by Pirjo Honkasalo · 1h 37m

Where to watch

Stream: Fandor, OVID · Rent or buy: Amazon Video

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

12 Best Finnish Movies to Watch

Tears of April (2008)

Steel Country (2018)

The White Reindeer (1952)

Rare Exports (2010)

The Fencer (2015)

Fallen Leaves (2023)

Le Havre (2011)

The Man Without a Past (2002)

Ariel (1988)

The Match Factory Girl (1990)

Purge (2012)

Concrete Night (2013)

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