Upswing

Katri and Janne have a comfortable life in Helsinki. Everyone in their circle goes off to distant countries and tells the story afterwards. The two of them want a holiday nobody has taken. The idea they come up with is this: for one month they will live in Jakomäki, the district with the worst reputation in the city. They will live on benefits, rent a flat there, and report the experience. They arrive. But for the people who live there this is not a holiday, and the two tourists' game does not last long. Johanna Vuoksenmaa directs the Finnish comedy; ninety-nine minutes, with Tiina Lymi as Katri and Petteri Summanen as Janne. It is her first feature. Its joke is not about poverty but about a middle class that wants to consume poverty as an experience.