Finnish student Laura (Seidi Haarla) leaves her girlfriend behind in Moscow and hops on a train to Murmansk where she wants to see its famed petroglyphs; she ends up sharing a compartment with a hard-drinking miner (Yuri Borisov). First impressions change, as they often do, in this road movie of sorts, shot on actual trains in Russia and on several locations in the country. That’s one of its many virtues, along with the two leads who slowly win us over with their grounded performances. It’s a story about human connection and the value of immersing oneself in other cultures; often far from smooth or predictable, much like the train ride itself.

2021-Finland-Estonia-Germany-Russia. 107 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Emilia Haukka, Jussi Rantamäki. Directed by Juho Kuosmanen. Screenplay: Andris Feldmanis, Juho Kuosmanen, Livia Ulman. Novel: Rosa Liksom. Cinematography: Jani-Petteri Passi. Cast: Seidi Haarla (Laura), Yuri Borisov (Lyokha), Dinara Drukarova (Irina), Julia Aug.

Trivia: Original title: Hytti nro 6. 

Last word: “When something needed to be adjusted in the compartment, we had to take everybody out. […] The other thing was I couldn’t really be in the same space as the actors, so I had to be on the monitor and I actually don’t like to be on the monitor when I’m directing. I’ll check the takes on the monitor but I prefer to be in the same space as the actors and watching them with my own eyes and to actually feel the atmosphere. [But] it was my own idea to shoot it on a moving train.” (Kuosmanen, Deadline)

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