Jorma Tommila's Aatami holding two Tommy guns while covered in mud and looking intense in Sisu: Road to RevengeCredit: MovieStillDB
By
Grant Hermanns
Published 47 minutes ago
Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.
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The most brutal Nazi-killing franchise of the past few years is back with Sisu: Road to Revenge, though is changing up its story structure this time around. Once again written and directed by Jalmari Helander, the action sequel picks up two years after its acclaimed predecessor, with Jorma Tommila's Aatami returning to his home a richer man, albeit still tormented by the brutal killings of his family during World War II at the hands of Soviet Red Army officer Igor Draganov, played by Avatar's Stephen Lang.
Looking to start his life anew now that the war is ending, Aatami dismantles his home and loads it all onto a truck, driving across Finland to find a peaceful new home to honor his family's memory. However, in an effort to quell the legend of "the man who refuses to die", the KGB release Draganov and give him near-endless resources to hunt the Sisu protagonist down, resulting in an explosive race across the country.
Having originally premiered at Fantastic Fest in September 2025, Sisu: Road to Revenge has garnered near universal acclaim from critics, currently holding a 96% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, who have praised the sequel for its inventive action and dark sense of humor. The movie has also gotten off to a strong start at the box office with its Finland premiere, grossing nearly $2 million against its $12 million production budget, while also being on track for a $3 million debut in its domestic opening weekend.
Ahead of the movie's US release, ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed Jalmar Helander and Stephen Lang to discuss Sisu: Road to Revenge. In looking at the difference between the two movies' structures, in which the first could be compared to John Wick while the latter is a road movie akin to Mad Max: Fury Road, the co-writer/director explained that the reason for this change was he wanted to bring more "speed" into the sequel, confessing he felt that was "something missing from my previous films":
Jalmari Helander: The idea that Aatami is trying to transport his home through a hostile territory creates action and movement. Like in a road movie with a lot of action. It’s entertaining to watch but very slow to shoot. When you have a lot of moving vehicles, cars, motorbikes etc. and also all the cameras are moving, it is very time-consuming and hard to reset for a new take.
As the scale increased between the two films, and Helander had a bigger budget to work with, the writer/director pointed to the "big explosions" as being the "most exciting" set pieces to put together, while citing the toughest as being "the movement of all the vehicles". Describing putting together the former, Helander said the key to pulling them off is "a lot of planning and work beforehand," especially given that on the day of the shoot, "you only have one take" and therefore have to "hope that everything goes as planned".
Another key evolution in Sisu: Road to Revenge's story is, unlike many other one-man-army action franchises, the sequel gives more insight into Aatami's backstory regarding his family's death and the person behind it. Helander explained that the core of this change came from his protagonist "getting his house back", feeling it to be "so original, emotional and right from the first second":
Jalmari Helander: I needed to have an idea that would match the first one and could be even better to justify this film. This time it’s more personal and emotional and creates good action!
Helander Knew He Needed "Some Badass Actors" Like Lang To Contrast Aatami
ScreenRant: The cast for the first film was primarily Finnish, and again, you broaden the scope a bit here with Stephen Lang (American) and Richard Brake (Welsh & American), two fantastic actors, as your primary villains. How did that more international casting come about, and what drew you to those two, in particular?
Jalmari Helander: I was thinking about someone younger at first, but when the idea came to have Stephen Lang, I immediately thought it was a great idea. And when I had my first conversation with him, it just felt pure. It was awesome to get Brake and Lang for SISU because Aatami Korpi really needs some badass actors for this film.
ScreenRant: Stephen, obviously you're no stranger to playing villains, but every actor has a different way of getting into their villain's head, whether it's physicality, whether it's their backstory, whether it's the voice. What did you find was the best way to get into Igor's head in this film?
Stephen Lang: As I recall, it had a lot to do with kind of emptying myself out. I was really looking to kind of create kind of a void in my own self, and one of the ways I achieved that, I did enjoy — you mentioned the backstory, and obviously, the backstory of Igor Draganov is not relevant to the narrative, in a sense, but it is relevant to my playing the role. So, to be able to create a character who is capable of such kind of callous, cold and systematic evil, it's helpful to understand where that's coming from, and how that came about. Once you realize that this guy is, and has been, from the moment of his birth, a child of the state, a child of a state that actually, from a very early age, kind of steered him on a certain path, and cut off certain things that were not going to be useful. Did everything they could to kind of curtail emotion, and do everything it could do to accentuate or develop strains of callous cruelty. It's perfectly possible we're all products of our environment, our conditioning, and I think he is, as well. So that's the journey that I take when I'm creating a character like that.
ScreenRant: Well, that journey really makes it all the more visceral once we get to later points in the film, and Igor gets more involved in the action, especially when we finally get to see him and Aatami go against each other. I'd love to hear what it was like when you and Jorma finally got to actually share screen time together, and, both mentally and physically, go toe to toe with each other.
Stephen Lang: Yeah, it was a pleasure, because he's a terrific pro. I think we both, even without ever saying it, had a contract to look out for each other, because if you think about it, we're talking about on the train, we're in an enclosed space there, and everything is broken and busted. There are shards and sharp edges and everything. Wherever you go, there's a dozen ways to ding yourself or hurt yourself. That's interesting, because that creates a little bit of "watch your ass" tension, which I think is good. But working with him, we worked well together, it was a fine duet. Whenever we did get together, a lot of punches were thrown, a lot of forks were stabbed into people, and both of us walked away from it feeling like we'd done our job, and also we hadn't busted broken any limbs, either our own, or our acting partners'. I also love the spoon stabs. [Chuckles]
ScreenRant: I wanted to touch on Igor's death, because I was gleefully surprised by the sheer brutality of it with the combination of the warhead impaling him and blowing him up. How many iterations of a legendary death did you give him when crafting the script?
Jalmari Helander: I always knew he would die with the missile because that was the first idea with the train. I thought how cool it would be to ride on a train moving with the rocket engine of a big missile. So, when I had that, I knew the missile would be the seat of him.
Sisu: Road to Revenge is now in theaters nationwide!
Sisu: Road to Revenge
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed R Action War Release Date November 21, 2025 Runtime 89 minutes Director Jalmari HelanderCast
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Jorma Tommila
Aatami
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Stephen Lang
Igor Draganov
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Sandy E. Scott
Soviet Soldier
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Tommi Korpela
Narrator
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