Raptures
In the first-ever film using the Indigenous language Meänkieli, a devout Christian woman in the 1930s living along the Finland-Sweden border must protect her family from the encroaching wrath of her husband’s newly formed sectarian cult.
Director Jon Bahed scheduled to attend.
Tickets
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Friday, May 23, 2025
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
Saturday, May 24, 2025
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
In this masterful period drama, director Jon Blåhed transports us to “beautiful [yet] godless” near-Arctic Scandinavia and recounts the harrowing stranger-than-fiction true story of the fanatical cult that overtook the Indigenous Meänkieli community in the 1930s. When Swedish authorities arrive in her village, schoolteacher and devout Christian Rakel (Jessica Grabowsky) is horrified by the cruel acts the men plan to perform on the children in the name of racial purity and left at a loss when they claim the Meänkieli translation of the Bible is incorrect. When townspeople begin experiencing intense visions which they believe to be messages from God, it appears the salvation and freedom they so desperately seek is finally upon them. When Rakel’s husband, Teodor (Jakob Öhrman), finds himself leading the charges, the movement rapidly spirals into chaos as a doomsday of their own making approaches. The frenetic strings and dread-inducing horns of Rebekka Karijord’s standout score perfectly compliment the striking landscape and powerhouse performances from Grabowsky and Öhrman. Perhaps just as much as it is a startling look at the dangers of fanaticism, Raptures is a cautionary tale of the cyclical horrors of colonialism, begging the question: Is it better to create your own apocalypse than succumb to someone else’s?
- Original Language Title: Rörelser
- Director: Jon Blåhed
- Principal Cast: Jessica Grabowsky, Jakob Öhrman, Samuli Niittymäki, Hannes Suominen, Rebekka Baer, Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Elina Knihtilä, Alma Pöysti, Anton Raukola
- Premiere Status: North American
- Country: Sweden, Finland
- Year: 2025
- Running Time: 108 min.
- Producer: Andreas Emanuelsson, Tiina Pesonen, Tony Österholm
- Screenplay: Jon Blåhed
- Cinematographers: Mimmo Hildén
- Editors: Nina Ijäs
- Music: Rebekka Karijord
- Website: Official Film Website
- Awards: Rotterdam International Film Festival 2025 (VRPO Big Screen Award)
- Filmography: The Count (2021), Inland (2020), Maj Doris (2018)
- Language: Meänkieli, Swedish, Finnish
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- Format: DCP
- International Sales: Picture Tree International