Four Little Adults
Helsinki is for lovers! In Finnish filmmaker Selma Vilhunen’s latest, a middle-aged couple on the verge of a breakup decide to open up their relationship and enter the complex world of polyamory. What follows is a fascinating balance of hilarious, touching, and all too human feelings.
Come to the 5/12 screening for your chance to win streaming passes to HUMP!—the world's best indie erotic film festival.
The love triangle has been a staple of rom coms for decades. But what happens when that triangle becomes a square? Tensions can escalate very quickly and in unexpected ways. Writer-director Selma Vilhunen's film is a lightly comic but ultimately serious examination of polyamory, asking whether it could be a practical, stable response to infidelity—sort of a 21st century update of Paul Mazursky's Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice from 50 years ago. The action begins when Juulia (Alma Pöysti), a Finnish politician, discovers that her seemingly well-matched clergyman husband Matias (Eero Milonoff) has been having a lengthy affair with a woman named Enni (Oona Airola). Initially shaken emotionally by the revelation, Juulia proves to be a master of political compromise and invites Enni to meet with her and Matias to discuss the possibility of an "open marriage" arrangement, sharing with them a polyamory guidebook she has researched with underlined passages. While Juulia and Matias' young son Miro (Iivo Tuuri) seems unconcerned with the idea, Juulia's mother is understandably unnerved and expresses her desire for the two to reconcile and return to a life of safe, familiar monogamy. As the tentative agreement is reached, events begin to deteriorate as Juulia takes a new partner named Miska (Pietu Wikström), a bisexual cabaret performer who already has a boyfriend. The love square suddenly becomes an extended pentagon, leading to a series of unintended complications. While the plot twists in Four Little Adults are often humorous, Vilhunen addresses polyamory in a refreshingly equitable manner, raising the question of whether such relationships can survive the very human emotions of jealousy, possessiveness, and insecurity.
—Randy Woods
- Original Language Title: Neljä pientä aikuista
- Director: Selma Vilhunen
- Principal Cast: Alma Pöysti, Eero Milonoff, Oona Airola, Pietu Wikström
- Premiere Status: North American
- Country: Finland, Sweden
- Year: 2023
- Running Time: 121 min.
- Producer: Venla Hellstedt, Elli Toivoniemi
- Screenplay: Selma Vilhunen
- Cinematographers: Juice Huhtala
- Editors: Antti Reikko
- Website: Official Film Website
- Awards: Göteborg Film Festival 2023 (Best Actress)
- Filmography: Stupid Young Heart (2019), Little Wing (2017)
- Language: Finnish
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- International Sales: LevelK