Name: Blackout
Director: JP Siili
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Released: 2008-12-26
Duration: 108 min
Rating: 4.4
Cast: Petteri Summanen, Jenni Banerjee, Irina Björklund, Ismo Kallio, Lena Meriläinen

Nail gun to the head + amnesia = the world's worst recovery room mystery.

Nordic noir fever dreamMedical thriller with brain damageFinnish identity crisis

Overview

Thriller Mystery

Recovering from a nail gun shot to the head and 13 months of coma, doctor Pekka Valinta starts to unravel the mystery of his past, still suffering from total amnesia.

FI Finnish

Content warning

Identity as constructed fictionTrauma and unreliable memoryInstitutional corruptionThe violence of knowing oneself

Standout Aspects

Direction

JP Siili's clinical eye turns Helsinki into a frozen purgatory of doubt.

Acting

Petteri Summanen's blank-slate vulnerability carries every absurd revelation.

Production

That nail gun wound makeup deserves more recognition than this film got.

Best for:Solo·Streaming

Heads up:Violence·Disturbing

Director

JP Siili

ReleasedDec 26, 2008

Runtime1h 48m

StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacesteady

Intensitymedium

Tonedark

Feelmedium

Filmiteollisuus Fine

Top Cast

Petteri Summanen

Pekka

Jenni Banerjee

Laura Koskimies

Irina Björklund

Anne Hartela

Lena Meriläinen

Hanna Kajaste

Mari Perankoski

Mari Koski

Mikko Leppilampi

Juha Pasanen

Hannu-Pekka Björkman

Aleksi Partio

Mikko Kouki

Juha Pasanen

Miitta Sorvali

Osastonhoitaja

Asko Sarkola

Sairaalan johtaja

Eero Milonoff

Siviilipalvelusmies katolla

Karoliina Blackburn

Lääkäri Jorvissa

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Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Trivia

JP Siili was primarily known for music videos before this; the film's fragmented visual style borrows heavily from that background.

Cultural

Blackout arrived during a brief early-2000s boom in Finnish genre cinema, when local filmmakers tried to break into international thriller markets with mixed results.

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