Natura

Matti Harju's debut feature is a contemporary post-COVID rumination on the deception of envy and the isolation of our interconnected world. Nihilistically boasting about the abandonment of ideology, two ostracised Finnish men find each other online. Recreating themselves as active protagonists, they take charge of their lives and their fortunes by planning to break into a crypto-millionaire's remote home. Harju uses exterior shots both to create mystery by lingering on nature and to convey the men's lower socio-economic reality, employing the cinematic vernacular of distant train tracks, rubbish-strewn woodlands and half-built structures. A stark contrast is created between the assailants and their target and his seemingly lavish life. The film leans toward the absurd as the men attempt to prepare for their crime, take selfies en route and help their bound captive measure his blood glucose levels. Natura conjures a displaced tension, serving as the antithesis to a conventional invasion film like Michael Haneke's Funny Games (1997). Rather than dwelling on torment and torture, Harju creates more of a social study of the digital age, framed by the folkloric adages that ‘looks can be deceiving’ and ‘things are not as they seem’. Fuelled by a quiet rage under the glistening Nordic twilight, the protagonists quickly learn that digital facades and currencies are equally deceptive. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)