Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Dark comedy with violence, language, and mature themes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
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Where to Watch
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Little Siberia
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In LITTLE SIBERIA, Joel (Eero Ritala) is a remote Finnish town's new priest. He's a bit clueless, struggling with his faith, perhaps because of the horrors he may have seen as a military peacekeeper in Afghanistan years back. He was badly injured, with shrapnel in his scrotum, and that rendered him sterile. He has neglected to let his wife, Krista (Malla Malmivaara), know, and when she announces that she's pregnant, he suspects she has cheated on him but can't accuse her without revealing that he's kept that huge secret from her. The town's quirky citizens are abuzz with the meteorite that fell out of the sky and straight through the car roof of former race car driver Tarvainen (Tommi Korpela). He's a local drunk and not happy that the town has taken possession of what he thinks of as his own private cosmic rock. It's kept under lock and key until authorities can assess its actual value. Everyone anticipates the riches it will bring to the town. Attempts to steal it bring Joel, who is guarding it at night, into the crosshairs.
Is It Any Good?
Little Siberia is a whimsical tale with a thoughtful, philosophical bent. It takes things as far as they can go from dark comedy to comic violence until it doesn't know what to do with itself. The filmmakers use many methods to let us in on the joke. The opening on a seemingly incapacitated man almost lifelessly lying on a field of ice could signal tragedy, but the story immediately takes us back 13 billion years, and there's no doubt we are to view this man as nothing more than an inconsequential blip in the life of the universe.
Traces of Fargo, Chinatown, and Lars and the Real Girl fuel a deadpan acceptance of life's weirdness. That connects with the doubts of a badly wounded ex-military-turned-priest who struggles with faith, feels bad he's lied to his spouse, and worries she might have cheated on him. And despite the low-crime rate in his remote backwater of a town, the fact that he remembers how to throw a punch turns out to be handy. All of this makes the film quirky and likable, but with so many loose ends to tie, it falters a bit in the wrap-up.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the subjects ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous that the movie touches on. What are your thoughts on overpopulation, nuclear winter, Ebola, the pandemic, infertility, marital fidelity, and religion? Do you think they are worth talking about?
How does the movie balance its concern with serious matters and its comic tone? What methods do the filmmakers use to convey that balance?
What does the movie say about lying?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : March 20, 2025
- Cast : Eero Ritala , Rune Temte , Tommi Korpela , Malla Malmivaara
- Director : Dome Karuskoski
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 105 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : March 31, 2025
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