‘The Mire’ Puts a Feminist Spin on a Haunting Tale of Disappearances in a 19th-Century Finnish Village
variety.comChristopher Vourlias Finnish director Marika Harjusaari makes her feature debut with the female-centered, 19th-century-set horror “The Mire,” which follows a woman who must use her mysterious powers to save a Finnish village from a malevolent spirit.
The film will be presented this week as part of a showcase of upcoming Finnish titles at the Finnish Film Affair. Written by Ilona Ahti, the screenwriter behind Alli Haapasalo’s 2022 Sundance Audience Award winner “Girl Picture,” and produced by Mika Ritalahti (Silva Mysterium Oy), also in Park City last year with Hanna Bergholm’s Midnight selection “Hatching,” “The Mire” centers on an outcast midwife who harbors a terrible secret: She leaves unwanted newborns in a nearby swamp.
After falling in love with a young priest, she tries to leave her dark past behind. But when a strange woodland spirit arrives in the village, causing a series of unexplained disappearances, Iiris must use a powerful force in order to save the village, even as many blame her for the tragic events. “The Mire” marks the second collaboration between Harjusaari and Ahti, who teamed up in 2019 on Ahti’s short film “Homebound.” “We were sure that we would work together again,” says Harjusaari, describing their partnership as a seamless fit. “We came up with the story [of ‘The Mire’] really quickly.
Ilona and I work a lot using intuition and we sort of swore an oath that wherever the story is going to take us, we will go.
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