Sahti films draw laughs at alcoholism as drinking recurs in Finnish cinema
Saturday 18th July 2026 on 19:30 in
Finland
Finnish films have long framed alcohol both as a source of tragic tales and rowdy comedy, with the country’s drinking culture repeatedly surfacing on screen.
Yle
The upcoming sequel to the hit comedy 100 Litres of Sahti is being filmed in Sysmä, continuing a tradition where alcohol serves as both plot device and cultural touchstone. Last year’s original drew 235,000 viewers, making it the second most-watched film in Finland after Minecraft.
Researcher Jaakko Seppälä of the University of Helsinki says alcohol has been a persistent theme in Finnish cinema alongside depictions of the nation’s landscape. “Finnish film tells the story of the Finnish people, and two recurring motifs run through its history: our nature and our drinking,” he said.
The first 100 Litres of Sahti followed two sisters tasked with brewing 100 litres of traditional Finnish beer for a wedding. Their unplanned consumption leaves them unaware of the date, their empty canisters revealing the scale of their intake. While marketed as a comedy, the film’s tone darkens as the characters’ revelry masks deeper unhappiness.
The original’s director, Teemu Nikki, intended the sequel, 200 Litres of Sahti, to offer the alcoholic protagonist, Pirkko, a chance at redemption. Filming in Sysmä this month, the new instalment stars Pirjo Lonka and Elina Knihtilä.
Critic and author Kalle Kinnunen cautions against overstating alcohol’s role, noting that drinking scenes must serve the narrative rather than exist for their own sake. He argues that alcohol in films often reflects societal pressures—youth experimentation or middle-aged coping—without centring on intoxication itself.
Seppälä and Kinnunen highlight 100 Litres of Sahti as an exception, where alcoholism drives the plot while sahti itself functions like gold in a western, tying the story to Finnish heritage. Nikki has said the film’s focus on brewing arose from a desire to mythologise sahti, with alcoholism emerging as an inevitable consequence of the subject matter.