In the spring of 1986, the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl explodes, spreading fear (and radioactive clouds) across Europe. At the same time, teenaged Mariia falls for Mimi, who has just moved to her small village in Finland. As this strange and dangerous time unfolds, together they experience their first passionate summer of love, despite relentlessly ominous messages on the radio about the faraway nuclear disaster. When Mariia returns to her hometown 20 years later to care for her ailing mother, complex memories of that fateful summer with Mimi keep rising to the surface. Alternating between past and present, Finnish director Inari Niemi delivers a sensitive, moving coming-of-age story, skillfully navigating between Mariia’s sunny, hopeful youth and her sombre, challenging present.
“Expertly crafted … Hanna Kuirinlahti’s editing [transcends] coming-of-age film expectations.”