Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes last summer, Juho Kuosmanen’s intimate, unexpected and deeply human drama follows two ill-matched travel companions on a life-changing, long-distance train ride to the Arctic Circle.

Laura (Seidi Haarla), a Finnish archaeology student, is convinced by her lecturer – and lover – to make an expedition to an ancient site near the Arctic Circle. But when she boards the long-distance train, she discovers that she’s sharing her carriage with Ljoha (Yuriy Borisov), a foul-mouthed, misogynistic drunk travelling to his new job as a miner. The pair at first seem to have nothing in common – but their enforced intimacy gradually thaws their chilly relations and brings them closer together. There are echoes of Lost in Translation and Before Sunrise, but Juso Kuosmanen’s film is very much its own creation, brought to life by two brilliant central performances.

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