---
title: "Fallen Leaves"
year: 2023
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/fallen-leaves"
fi1m_id: "fallen-leaves"
imdb_id: "tt21027780"
tmdb_id: 986280
wikidata_id: "Q113396073"
fi1m_score: 83
critics_score: 84
critics_reviews: 18
published: "2026-09-10"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:04.153700+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Fallen Leaves (2023)

Directed by Aki Kaurismäki · 1h 21m · MPA NR · Romance, Drama

## Identity

Fallen Leaves

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/fallen-leaves
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** fallen-leaves
- **IMDb ID:** tt21027780
- **TMDB ID:** 986280
- **Wikidata ID:** Q113396073
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21027780/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/986280, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q113396073

**Fi1m score: 83** · Critics 84 from 18 reviews

*In a sentence:* Two Finns fall in love using roughly the vocabulary of a bus timetable, and it works

> Aki Kaurismäki has made this film before, and he has rarely made it better. A deadpan Helsinki romance about two people with bad jobs and worse luck, it is short, dry and, by the end, unexpectedly kind.

## Synopsis

Ansa (Alma Pöysti) stacks shelves in a Helsinki supermarket and goes home to a small flat, a single chair at the table and a radio that keeps bringing her the news from Ukraine. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) works on building sites and drinks more than he should. After a security guard catches Ansa taking home food the shop was about to throw out, she meets Holappa in a karaoke bar where his friend Huotari (Janne Hyytiäinen) is singing. What follows is a courtship conducted in short sentences, cups of coffee, a trip to the cinema to see a Jim Jarmusch film, and long silences in which two people decide whether they can afford to hope. Aki Kaurismäki writes, produces and directs, in 81 minutes.

## Review

Ansa (Alma Pöysti) stacks shelves in a Helsinki supermarket until a security guard catches her taking home food the shop was going to throw away. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) works on building sites and drinks, and keeps drinking. They meet in a karaoke bar where his friend Huotari (Janne Hyytiäinen) is singing, and over some weeks and a great many silences they come round to the view that they would rather be in the same room than not. Aki Kaurismäki writes, produces and directs, and he does it in 81 minutes. It is a small film and a good one, and we liked it more than anything of his in years.

Kaurismäki has been making this film, in one form or another, since the 1980s. *Shadows in Paradise*, *Ariel* and *The Match Factory Girl* put lonely Finns in bad jobs and watched them find each other, and several critics have called *Fallen Leaves* a fourth part, which seems fair to us. His people still talk in short flat sentences. They still smoke, drink coffee from small cups and listen to the radio. Nothing here will surprise anyone who has seen him before, and he does not appear to think it needs to.

Timo Salminen lights it the way he lights all of Kaurismäki’s Helsinkis: each wall a single flat colour, each lamp placed as if for a still life, the reds and greens and blues as clean as paint samples. Ville Grönroos gives Ansa a kitchen with one chair at the table and a radio on the side, and gives the karaoke bar the brown walls and pooled light of a place where the same people have been sitting since the Seventies. Tiina Kaukanen dresses everyone in clothes from no decade you could name, plain coats and cardigans that could be new or forty years old. The result is a city that looks like 1985 until somebody turns the radio on and the news is from Ukraine.

Pöysti plays Ansa with a face that hardly moves, and we could read every thought on it from the back row. She is not blank; she is guarding something, and when Holappa says something kind the guard slips for about half a second before she gets it back. Vatanen plays Holappa as a man who walks as if apologising for taking up pavement, and he has one line about why he drinks that is funnier and sadder than it has any right to be. Hyytiäinen’s Huotari sings at karaoke with the confidence of a man who has never once been asked to, and Nuppu Koivu, as Ansa’s friend Liisa, gets her laughs without appearing to try for them. Nobody in this film raises their voice. We are not sure anybody in it could.

The radio is what got at us. Ansa switches it on for company, alone in her kitchen, and gets casualty figures and shelled cities. She listens for a moment, then reaches over and switches it off, and goes back to her dinner. The camera stays where it is. This happens more than once, and the second time we found it hard to sit through, which we had not expected from a comedy about two shy people. Kaurismäki keeps letting the world in through a small speaker and then shutting it out again, because there is nothing else she can do about it, and the film knows that is not enough and does not pretend otherwise.

The one mixed notice among the reviews calls it minor, and we can see the case. It is 81 minutes and thin, and there is a stretch in the middle where the plot, such as it is, hangs on a mischance we will not describe and the film marks time until it arrives. The cinema jokes, the posters in the lobby and the film the two of them choose, are for people who know Kaurismäki’s friends and heroes, and if you are not one of them a couple of minutes will pass you by. Samu Heikkilä cuts most scenes a beat before you expect, which is the right call nine times in ten and once or twice leaves a joke standing in the doorway.

See it in a cinema if you can, because the silences need a room to sit in. On a sofa, with the lights on, you will be tempted to talk over them, and there is not a great deal of dialogue left to lose. The 12A is fair: there is drink, there is bad luck, and there is a dog, about which we will say nothing except that it earns its billing.

*Fi1m score 83, published 10 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews for Fallen Leaves agree to a degree that is unusual even for a well-liked film: seventeen of the eighteen are positive, and the one exception is mild. The praise settles on Aki Kaurismäki’s deadpan handling of a romance between two lonely Helsinki workers, on the dry humour drawn from job loss, drink and radio reports of the war in Ukraine, and on the way the lead performances say a great deal with almost nothing. The i Paper points to small visual details, a cigarette end or a stray dog’s eyes, as carrying the emotional weight.

The reservations, where they appear, are about scale rather than quality. Variety finds it charming but minor, a nostalgic piece that leaves little behind, and a few others note that it is business as usual for the director and brief at 81 minutes. Film Stories, alone, asks whether this Helsinki is one Finns would recognise. Nobody argues it is a bad film.

## Straight answers

**Is Fallen Leaves worth watching?**

*Fallen Leaves* is worth watching for anyone who can sit with silences, and we scored it 83. Aki Kaurismäki's deadpan Helsinki romance, two people with bad jobs finding each other over coffee and karaoke, is 81 minutes, thin in the middle and kinder than it lets on. See it in a cinema if you can; the quiet needs a room to sit in.

**How long is Fallen Leaves, and what is it rated?**

*Fallen Leaves* runs 1h 21m and is rated NR by the MPA in the US. It is a romance and drama film.

**Where can I watch Fallen Leaves in the US?**

*Fallen Leaves* is streaming on MUBI in the US. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Fallen Leaves, and is it suitable for children?**

*Fallen Leaves* is a 12A and contains almost nothing violent or frightening. There is drinking, some hard luck, and radio news from Ukraine that Ansa keeps switching off, which we found harder to sit through than anything shown on screen. Older children would be fine with it, though its long silences and dry humour are aimed squarely at adults.

**How does Fallen Leaves compare to Paterson?**

*Fallen Leaves* and [*Paterson*](https://film.one/film/paterson) are both quiet films about working people finding comfort in small routines, and each nods to the other's director. Kaurismäki's is the drier and sadder of the two, with the outside world pressing in through a radio; Jarmusch's is warmer and easier company. We rate both, and think *Fallen Leaves* the slightly better film.

**What should I watch after Fallen Leaves?**

After *Fallen Leaves*, try [*Paterson*](https://film.one/film/paterson) (2016, Fi1m 84): Jarmusch returns the favour: a bus driver, a week, and almost nothing going wrong. Then [*Stranger Than Paradise*](https://film.one/film/stranger-than-paradise) (1984, Fi1m 82): Deadpan drifters in cheap rooms, shot in black and white; the deadpan template; and [*The Lunchbox*](https://film.one/film/the-lunchbox) (2013, Fi1m 75): Two lonely Mumbai workers court by letter; warmer weather, the same hesitation.

### Reviews we read (26)

- **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (4/5/4): The review celebrates the film as another small but perfectly shaped jewel, a gorgeous tragicomic farce and cinephile ode to the possibility of love among the working classes. It praises Kaurismäki's deadpan instincts and ironic yet heartfelt take on disenchanted lives. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/fallen-leaves)
- **The Independent** (4/4): The critic calls the film a slender, charming gem that outclasses grander 2023 releases as the year's best big-screen romance. They single out its personal odes to cinema and timeless deadpan style amid contemporary references like the Ukraine war. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-jim-jarmusch-helsinki-finland-oscar-b2448833.html)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Carlos Aguilar (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it the year’s most succinctly perfect film, a hand-tooled romance of deep compassion and deadpan drollery that affirms hope in human connection. He singles out the wordless gestures of solidarity and the director’s signature ability to extract gentleness from hardship. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-11-22/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismaki)
- **The i Paper**, Christina Newland (85/100, inferred): The critic urges readers to see this delicate, deadpan gem and praises Kaurismäki for returning with a shambling quiet romance that captures loneliness and human warmth. They single out the austere visual shorthand in serious moments, such as lingering shots of cigarette ends or a stray dog's eyes. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/fallen-leaves-review-one-film-2783456)
- **Vulture** (85/100, inferred): The great Aki Kaurismäki delivers one of his most charming films with this tale of missed romantic connections. It is one of his more hopeful works, with a smile waiting to be born amid Finnish gloom. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/movie-review-fallen-leaves-aki-kaurismakis-latest-comedy.html)
- **Empire**, David Parkinson (80/100, inferred): The critic finds it a drolly scripted, impeccably designed and photographed delight that is a cherishable summation of Kaurismäki's style. They single out the familiar yet welcome return to his world of ordinary people dealing with everyday emotions. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/fallen-leaves/)
- **Slant Magazine** (80/100, inferred): Kaurismäki’s latest recalls his early Proletariat Trilogy in its focus on solitary workers seeking connection. It is deeply alert to the sensory pleasures of the world, elevating the scenario above latent miserabilism. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismaki/)
- **The Telegraph**, Tim Robey (4/5): This is a particularly fine poetic romance from a modern master, using the structure of romantic comedy to radiate melancholy and yearning for togetherness amid zero-hours contracts and alcoholism. It singles out the charming central couple and the way their lives hinge on shifting from awkward to companionable silences. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismaki/)
- **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (4/5): The critic calls it a low-key treat with moments of real bliss, a wry black comic tale of stalled romance that finds morose comedy and genuine humour in the characters' down-and-out lot. It singles out Kaurismäki's pared-down deadpan melancholy and his sympathetic stance toward those trampled by modern times. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/fallen-leaves-2023)
- **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): The review notes that the film is business as usual for Kaurismäki but beautifully acted, with solid international prospects guaranteed to cast a warm glow. It singles out the lead performance by Alma Pöysti and the familiar lugubrious charm including the dog cameo. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/fallen-leaves-cannes-review/5182466.article)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (60/100, inferred): The critic finds it a charming but exceedingly minor and nostalgic bauble with the familiar Kaurismäki deadpan style and monosyllabic romance, yet one that leaves little lasting imprint. He singles out the scruffy appeal of the working-class setting and the in-joke screening of a Jarmusch film. [Read](https://variety.com/2023/film/news/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismaki-1235622174/)
- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich: Kaurismäki’s first film in six years is an 81-minute romance about two lost souls who bond over a Jim Jarmusch movie. It is a lovely ode to movies that finds light in the darkness of modern life. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismaki-1234866939/)
- **Sight and Sound**: The critic praises Kaurismäki's return to small-scale stories of ordinary Finns, highlighting the precise direction, visual economy, and understated performances that convey loneliness and the need for human connection. It singles out the film's Chaplin-like quality and its portrayal of hope through love amid economic precarity. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/fallen-leaves-second-look-review-return-small-ordinary-beauty-kaurismakiland)
- **The Guardian**: The film is an unexpectedly uplifting tragicomic romance about two lonely souls in Helsinki connecting despite alcoholism, job loss and despair. It stands out for its droll deadpan humour and poignant central story that makes it the closest Kaurismäki gets to a feelgood movie. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/02/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismaki-droll-delight)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: Kaurismäki returns with a slender but enormously satisfying tragicomedy about two lonely blue-collar workers stumbling toward love in Helsinki. The director is in a playfully reflective mood, with lovely nods to other filmmakers and a well of feeling that creeps up on the viewer. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismaki-1235497770/)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (NYT Critic’s Pick): The critic finds the film a modestly scaled, tonally perfect deadpan comedy about two lonely people in Helsinki finding tentative connection amid hardship. She singles out the precise, tender way the director builds emotional tension and coaxes the characters together despite a precarious world. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/movies/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismaki.html)
- **The Times**, Ed Potton (★★★★☆): This is a slight but captivating bitter-then-sweet tale of middle-aged deadbeats looking for love and decent jobs, with layers of disappointment and gallows humour. It singles out the deadpan wit of the lead performances against a backdrop of radio reports on the Ukraine invasion. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/fallen-leaves-film-review-a-slight-but-captivating-film-0sl2h8v5s)
- **HeyUGuys**, Lisa Giles-Keddie (5/5): The review highlights Kaurismäki's mastery of emotional complexity in this tender romantic tale of two lonely people in Helsinki, praising the minimalist approach, rich cinematography, and subtle performances that convey deep yearning and hope amid melancholy. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/fallen-leaves-review/)
- **Collider**, Chase Hutchinson (A-): The critic calls it one of the best films of the year for its fresh perspective on love and everyday life. It stands out for blending delightful humor with heartfelt melancholy in a simple yet profound portrait of two working-class characters in Helsinki. [Read](https://collider.com/fallen-leaves-review/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a flat-out gem and one of the best at Cannes, praising its deeply human story of two lonely working-class people finding tentative connection amid life's obstacles. He singles out the believable leads and the film's wry humor, including a memorable dog and surprise ending zinger. [Read](https://deadline.com/2023/05/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismakis-gem-cannes-film-festival-1235375379/)
- **The Wrap**, Steve Pond (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the deadpan comedy as a wry delight that balances restraint and heart in a tale of lost souls, with Kaurismäki in full control of the delicate tone. He singles out the expressive performances through minimal facial expressions and the film's blend of dry humor with timely themes like the Ukraine war news on the radio. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/fallen-leaves-review-deadpan-comedy-review/)
- **The Playlist**, Marya E. Gates (B+): The review calls it a latter-day 'Marty' that mines raw emotion from clichéd love songs and deadpan style, praising how small gestures and glances convey profound change and hope for the working-class characters despite life's obstacles. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/fallen-leaves-review-aki-kaurismakis-romantic-tragicomedy-finds-love-in-a-hopeless-place-karlovy-vary-20230701/)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (80/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as an amuse-bouche packed with the director's signature deadpan flavors, noting the simple setup of two lonely workers whose potential romance blooms amid unexpected punchlines and a date to see another deadpan film. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/reviews/fallen-leaves-2023-review)
- **The Skinny**, Ben Nicholson (★★★★): The critic describes the film as a bittersweet, deadpan tale of two lonely working-class souls seeking connection in Kaurismäki’s retro Helsinki, effectively extending his Proletariat Trilogy. They single out the director’s signature balance of ironic tone with genuine tender melancholy, alongside the film’s anachronistic aesthetic and subtle contemporary touches like references to the Ukraine invasion. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/fallen-leaves-review)
- **Film Stories**, Maria Lattila: The critic, a Finn, questions whether the film's portrayal of Helsinki and its characters authentically represents Finland, finding the deadpan style and stilted dialogue appealing to fans but potentially alienating to others. She praises the universal truths in the working-class romance and the director's self-aware humor but notes the film feels fleeting at 81 minutes. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/fallen-leaves-review-kaurismaki-applies-his-minimalist-approach-to-love/)
- **Paste**, Jacob Oller (7.0): The critic finds it a charming, bone-dry rom-com about persistence and connection amid poverty and chaos. It stands out for its deadpan style, relatable characters, and quiet hope found in small moments despite economic and existential struggles. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/aki-kaurismaki/fallen-leaves-review)

## Details

- **Director:** Aki Kaurismäki
- **Director:** Aki Kaurismäki
- **Writer:** Aki Kaurismäki
- **Cinematography:** Timo Salminen
- **Editor:** Samu Heikkilä
- **Production design:** Ville Grönroos
- **Costume design:** Tiina Kaukanen
- **Producer:** Aki Kaurismäki
- **Cast:** Alma Pöysti as Ansa; Jussi Vatanen as Holappa; Janne Hyytiäinen as Huotari; Nuppu Koivu as Liisa; Mia Snellman as Ansa's Colleague; Mikko Mykkänen as Shop Security Guard; Sherwan Haji as Parakin Resident; Karar Al-Bazoon as Parakin Resident
- **Runtime:** 1h 21m
- **Certificate (MPA):** NR
- **Release (the US):** 17 November 2023
- **Genres:** Romance, Drama
- **Budget:** $1 million
- **Box office:** $12 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-0FtHVDoA

## Where to watch in the US

- MUBI: streaming, hd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, ES, FR, GB, IE, IN, JP, MX, NL, NZ, PA, TH, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- APRECI Award for Best International Premiere 2023: APRECI Award for Best International Premiere (won)
- European Film Award for Best Film 2023: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *The Match Factory Girl* (1990): Kaurismäki at his bleakest and shortest; the same city, none of the mercy
- *Marty* (1955): A Bronx butcher and a shy schoolteacher; the film Kaurismäki is quietly remaking
- *Paterson* (2016), Fi1m 84: Jarmusch returns the favour: a bus driver, a week, and almost nothing going wrong — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/paterson.md)
- *Stranger Than Paradise* (1984), Fi1m 82: Deadpan drifters in cheap rooms, shot in black and white; the deadpan template — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/stranger-than-paradise.md)
- *The Lunchbox* (2013), Fi1m 75: Two lonely Mumbai workers court by letter; warmer weather, the same hesitation — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lunchbox.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/fallen-leaves