Entertainment
One of the Best War Thrillers of All Time Has Arrived on Netflix & It Keeps Getting Better
You may have missed it, but one of the most action-packed World War II thrillers of all time was released in theaters late last year. The sequel to Jelmari Helander‘s 2023 breakout hit, Sisu, hit the big screen back in November and didn’t make much of a splash at the box office. However, reviews from both critics and fans heaped praise on the sequel, with some considering it even better than its predecessor. This week, that movie was added to Netflix this week and has quickly risen through the streamer’s ranks, helping to establish it as a potential cult classic in the making.
Sisu: Road to Revenge sees star Jorma Tommila return to his leading role as a Finnish folk hero who just wants to try and rebuild his life after the loss of his family. This time around, he’s joined by Avatar‘s Stephen Lang, who plays Russian officer whose deadly actions set the events of both films in motion. This sequel ups the ante in every way, making for one of the wildest action romps in quite a while. And not only is Sisu: Road to Revenge gaining more popularity by the day, but it’s also the kind of movie that gets more fun each time you watch it.
More ‘John Wick’ Than ‘Saving Private Ryan’
While Sisu: Road to Revenge is set at the end of World War II, it doesn’t share a ton of DNA with most other films that take place in the same era. Its attention is focused much more on delivering thrills through explosive and death-defying set pieces. Planes, trains, tanks, and trucks all get in on the action, as the two men at the center of it all try desperately to take the other out.
The first Sisu was met with rave reviews when it made festival debuts back in 2022, and a big reason for the excitement from viewers was that Helander’s film delivered some of the best big screen action since the launch of the John Wick franchise. John Wick set an almost impossible bar for every action movie that has been released in the last 12 years, and very few have been able to leave a lasting impact in the wake of what Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski accomplished. Sisu, however, was able to take some notes from the action of the Wick films while still carving out its own lane and creating something unique.
‘Sisu’ Should Be a Lasting Franchise
Anyone who has seen either of the two existing Sisu movies has likely become a quick fan of this budding franchise. The action is top-notch, the thrills never cease to impress, and they have both been tight, 90-minute affairs. These are the kinds of movies action fans have been begging for, but Sisu will likely need some help from the likes of Netflix, on-demand, and physical sales in order to continue with a third or fourth installment.
While Sisu: Road to Revenge only cost a little over $12 million to produce (a downright miraculous budget by today’s standards), it made less than $10 million at the box office through its theatrical run. In the previous eras of home video and physical media, the Sisu sequel would’ve had a very easy path to profitability, especially given how well-liked the film is by those who have seen it. But with streaming changing how films make money, the climb is going to be much steeper.
The good news is that the low price tag of these Sisu movies make them much easier to green-light than other projects. Popularity on Netflix will help the franchise’s case even more. After all, the Sisu films are still much less expensive than even most streaming original movies, so it shouldn’t take much for them to be seen as quality investments, even just from a streaming perspective.
- Release Date
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November 21, 2025
- Runtime
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89 minutes
- Director
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Jalmari Helander
- Writers
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Jalmari Helander
- Producers
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Petri Jokiranta, Mike Goodridge
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