Sisu true story as historical action thriller lands on Netflix

The film was written and directed by Jalmari Helander and became a major hit in Finland as well as performing admirably at the global box office, to the extent that a sequel to the film is already on the way – with a release expected later in 2025.

Given the film's historical backdrop, you might be wondering if Sisu is based on a true story and whether the character of Aatami Korpi is a real historical figure. Read on for everything you need to know.

Is Sisu based on a true story?

Strictly speaking, no – Sisu is not based on a true story, but is rather a fictionalised account of the real Lapland War that took place between Finland and Nazi Germany towards the end of the Second World War, in late 1944.

The central figure of Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) is not a real person: the history books show no such gold miner who single-handedly killed scores of Nazi soldiers.

Director Jalmari Helander did previously suggest in an interview with Finnish publication Ilta-Sanomat that the real WWII sniper named Simo Häyhä – who reportedly killed more than 500 people – was one inspiration for the character, but there is no direct comparison between the two.

Similarly, the Nazi officers who appear in the film are fictional and not drawn from actual historical sources.

So, while the Lapland War is very much a real historical battle that forms a crucial part of Finland's 20th century, viewers probably shouldn't tune in to this one for a history lesson: Sisu is a grisly action thriller inspired by the likes of John Wick and Rambo rather than a true-to-life war drama.

Speaking about why he decided to set a film against the backdrop of the Lapland War, Helander previously told RogerEbert.com, "It’s not just WWII, of course, it helps to have Nazis in your film because they’re iconic bad guys, you can do what the f**k you want with them, and no one will care."

He added: "All of the Finnish war films are really serious, and they are like this holy thing. It feels like you can’t mess with the war. But [the film's reception] went really well here in Finland, and people seem to like it.

"A lot of old people, too, they’re coming to me on the street saying how much they loved it and how different it was for them to watch something like this because they didn’t know they would be able to enjoy something like this."

Meanwhile, asked whether he did much research to ensure accuracy when it came to the weapons used, he said: "Well, this is not like a documentary, so I basically didn’t do any. I made them work for me rather than the other way around."

Sisu is now available to stream on Netflix – sign up from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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