SIFF 2022 - Games People Play

Scandanavian Film Festival Aotearoa 2022 at the home of global cinema, the Lumiere! ... A comedy about the tragedy of being forever young featuring a star-studded ensemble of Finnish talent, Games People Play follows old friends on the edge of turning 40 who reunite for a long summer weekend packed with unsettled love and unforgiven wrongs.

Eight friends gather to celebrate Mitzi’s (Emmi Parviainen) surprise birthday party over a nostalgic weekend at an idyllic Finnish seaside villa - just like they used to do as teenagers. Despite being well-intentioned, the party gets off to a bad start immediately, as the birthday girl is not so pleased about the surprise.

But when Mitzi’s glamourous best friend Veronika (Laura Birn, also starring in Helene) brings along her new boyfriend Swedish Hollywood actor Mikael (Christian Hillborg, Fleabag, also starring in A Piece of My Heart), old rivalries are triggered amongst these hip thirty-somethings. Familiar surroundings and old rituals get to the core of the group and make them forget their adulthood, while revelations make them reassess their past as well as their present. In this festival highlight, debut director Jenni Toivoniemi sketches an ironic portrait of a generation torn between their desires for love and their career plans.

Smartly gathers together a “who’s who” of Finnish actors.
Cineuropa