The Other Side of Hope

Syrian Khaled (Sherwan Haji), having washed up on Finland’s disconsolate shores in a coal container, is anxious about securing refugee status and remaining in the country when he crosses paths with middle-aged travelling shirt salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen, essaying the classic Kaurasmäki anti-hero type with aplomb), a glum guy who is about to leave his wife and change his life courtesy of some cash won in a card game. An unlikely friendship begins, and soon Khaled is working for Wikström at the latter’s new pipedream — a hilariously run-down and badly operated restaurant…

Talking Pictures is a monthly matinee series catering to the 55+ community. Patrons are encouraged to stay and chat about the movie and enjoy coffee and cookies on the house. Tickets are only $10, or two for $16.

[Kaurasmäki’s] films are gems of poker-faced comic absurdism, full of expressionless faces and gloomy rooms. That’s still the case with The Other Side of Hope, but… the beauty of [his latest work] is that Kaurismäki also manages to be touching and compassionate along the way… Wry humour sits alongside a persuasive vision of what it might mean to be a Syrian refugee in Finland, complete with fascist bullying and threats of violence. It’s a deeply humane film, as well as a quietly hilarious one.

Dave Calhoun, Time Out

The guiding ethic of The Other Side of Hope is as much topical as it universal: that altruism is not especially brave or courageous, but just the basic principle governing relations between human beings.

John Semley, Globe and Mail

It’s at once honest and artful, a touching and clearsighted declaration of faith in people and in movies.

AO Scott, New York Times