SXSW Online 2021: Fucking With Nobody Review

Keith NoakesMarch 19, 202167/100n/a4 min
Starring
Hannaleena Hauru, Tanja Heinän, Samuel Kujala
Writers
Hannaleena Hauru, Lasse Poser
Director
Hannaleena Hauru
Rating
n/a
Running Time
102 minutes
Release Date
n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
Fucking With Nobody has interesting things to say before essentially losing itself and that message while trying to balance too much narratively.

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s SXSW Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Hopefully the film is not dismissed solely for its vulgar title as it is much more than that. Fucking With Nobody has some interesting things to say but while it doesn’t all work, its parts outweigh their sum. Though this Finnish comedy has a lot to say about modern relationships and gender dynamics and perception, that message kind of gets lost in the shuffle amongst a messy story that couldn’t quite sustain itself before failing to hit the landing. The film follows a filmmaker named Hanna (Hauru) who after losing work to her chief rival Kristian (Jussi Lankoski), decided to create a parody Instagram romance with the help of her friends between her and a young, good-looking actor named Ekku (Kujala). Suffice it to say that she got more than she bargained for as her life essentially changed overnight as the general perception of her, now that she was in a relationship with someone who was arguably out of her league on paper, changed.

The commentary in Fucking With Nobody came from the actions and reactions of others to Hanna and Ekku’s blossoming fake relationship. From there, it was all about raising the bar to keep up the charade. Watching that contrast as the film went on was admittedly fun to watch as Hanna seemingly got the upper hand on her doubters but the film sort of went of the rails once it became something more than that as that earlier message disappeared in favor of unearned empowerment and predictable melodrama. In the end, audiences who can get behind Hanna as a character will be more impacted by this though for the most part, it was hard to follow after a certain point. Despite this, Hauru (who both co-wrote and directed the film), delivers a likeable performance and her chemistry with Kujala made them fun to watch in spite of everything else.

At the end of the day, Fucking With Nobody definitely takes a swing but it’s all about trying which is commendable.

still courtesy of AAMU Film Company


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