The Other Side of Hope (2017) on Netflix
Khaled, a Syrian refugee, reaches Helsinki as a stowaway and applies for asylum, searching for the sister he lost on the journey. Salesman Waldemar Wikström buys a restaurant.
- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb7.2/1014,951 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes92%
Trailer
Plot summary
Hidden on a cargo ship, Khaled, a Syrian mechanic, arrives in Finland's capital and turns himself in to the police to ask for asylum. At the center where his case is handled he meets Mazdak, an Iraqi refugee, and asks him to help trace Miriam, the sister he was separated from while the two crossed the Balkans away from the Syrian Civil War. Elsewhere in the city, Waldemar Wikström is a seller of shirts who argues with his wife, walks out and sells off his stock. He wins money at poker and spends it on a restaurant whose employees doubt his plans to renew it. After Khaled's application is refused, he goes into hiding, and Waldemar finds him in the yard behind the restaurant.
Cast
- Abdi Jamaas Aseman kassa
- Olli Varjaas Juoppo
- Pia Riihiojaas Vaatekaupan myyjä
Show all 20 cast
- Katja Tolonenas Vastaanottokeskuksen virkailija
- Seppo Väisänenas Migrin vahtimestari
- Karar Al-Bazoonas Migrin tulkki
- Ismo Haavistoas Kitaristi baarin ovella
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Other Side of Hope (2017)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While making the film, Aki Kaurismäki asked Sherwan Haji, who plays Khaled, whether he played an instrument; when he found Haji did, he had him bring it to the set and wrote a scene to incorporate it.
- Sherwan Haji won the part of Khaled after answering a casting call for a Middle Eastern actor, for which Syrian actors were preferred.
- Sherwan Haji said he drew on his personal experiences as a Syrian to play Khaled, describing how it took him maybe 10 minutes of closing his eyes to feel he was home before "all of a sudden it rain bombs".
