This weekend sees the UK cinema release of ‘Tove’, a film about the early life and loves of artist Tove Jansson, creator of probably Finland’s most famous export – the Moomins.

Here’s some more about the film and what we thought.

The Film

A beautiful biopic, Tove is an intimate portrait of a young, playful and at times struggling artist trying to discover and liberate herself, her heart and her art. Set in post-war Helsinki there is a wonderful richness and rawness to the film that is poetic. It’s no surprise that the film was the Finnish submission at the Oscars.

Director Bergroth does a wonderful job of dropping us into Tove’s world, giving us an insight into her imagination and inspiration. However it dares not go too deep, leaving you wondering how exactly the fantasy world of the Moomins was born from this mind and what happened next?

What we get though is a beautifully acted, visual and emotive movie, with Alma Poysti’s central performance being particularly stand-out, though she is wonderfully supported by Krista Kosonen’s Vivica and Shanti Roney’s Atos.

The Stars

Alma Pöysti plays the lead character of Tove in the movie and her performance is simply captivating. She manages to play a role of someone who is vulnerable and child-like but yet also displays incredible resilience and resolve.

Alma has only really been in a bunch on Finnish series and not really been too much of a recognisable face over here but we hope to see more of her in the future after a star turn in the movie.

Another key role and Tove’s love interest is played by the wonderful actress Krista Kosonen, which is how we first heard about the movie Tove. We got in touch with Krista after watching her in the fantastic Dogs Don’t Wear Pants movie. She’s also in the brilliant Beforeigners on HBO Nordic and over on Walter Presents in the series Bullets. She has also appeared in a cameo role in Blade Runner 2049!

The Director

The film is directed by Finnish director Zaida Bergroth, who has previously directed a number of short films, as well as features including ‘Miami’ and ‘The Good Son’. Setting her sights on the most well-known person in Finland was probably a dauting task, but was handled delicately.

We loved that mention of the Moomins was subtle, making sure that the story that unravels is a personal tribute to Tove herself, the artist’s bohemian lifestyle, love and relationships. Kudos must go also to the writer, Eeva Putro.

We recommend you catch Tove and let us know what you think!

Review by Alex Minnis

Tove is out in cinemas now from Blue Finch Film Releasing