Brace Your Heart

There’s not a lot of time for affairs of the heart in the Sápmi region community where Ejva (Elli Sara Valkeapää) lives. Reindeer herding is an intense and difficult livelihood, with families coming together in order to ensure their animals remain safe and cared for, including being kept away from the road where trucks from the local mine won’t stop if one strays in front of them.

Following her father’s death, the young woman finds herself the head of the family so far as her father’s herd is concerned, with her grandfather no longer young or fit enough to help and her sister still literally learning the ropes. Her family are encouraging – “You’ll show them” – but the male domination out in the snowy ranges where the reindeer live is evident.

Amanda Kernell indicates, in her compelling third feature, that those who own the reindeer are also expected to run with the human herd, being steered by the group, who, just as with their animals, are keen to mark out who belongs to whom. Evja likes Heaika (Andte Gaup-Juuso) in a way that has the potential to tip from lust to love but a steamy session in a sauna is taken much more seriously by him than her. The community, too, think he’s the alpha male, and there’s no doubting the nudging she is receiving since managing the herd would be easier with his help. The arrival of his sweet-natured cousin Nelja (Vincent Niia) causes her to further question what she wants from her life – and acts as a trigger for a traumatic event that changes her life completely.

The question becomes what Ejva will do about what has happened. Kernell’s drama feels embedded within the community and the landscape, with many of the cast, including Valkeapää, herders in real life. The strength required to catch a reindeer is one part of it, but there’s also the skill of carving the right mark into its ear and the dangers that can come from taking a snowmobile over thin ice.

Through the lens of Sophia Olsson’s camera the elemental nature of the landscape comes to the fore. The icy cold of the snow finds contrast in the steam of the sauna and roar of a fire, while the fun suggested by sparkling make-up on a face is in stark opposition to the emotion being experienced. Olsson, who previously shot Kernell’s debut Sámi Blood, also often shows Evja on her own, as solitude takes on an added lonely dimension in the middle of a snowfield. Scenes in the mine, also find strength in the contrast between the machine mechanics of that space and the living, breathing work with the reindeer and the land.

Kernell shears off the melodrama in favour of the cold, hard facts of the situation – whether it’s a snowmobile accident or the perils of the road. That doesn’t mean, however, that her film lacks warmth. By often letting Ejva’s face fill the frame, we bear witness to her thought processes as she decides what to do. Valkeapää is assured in her debut role, bringing conviction to a tricky role and the chemistry between her and Niia is sweetly believable and nicely opposed to the more rough and ready bond she shared with Haeika.

This is a niche observation, since few audiences will probably get the chance to see both, but Brace Your Heart has a similar plot arc and central dilemma to that in Sámi musical Árru, which premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year. Kernell’s film, however, benefits from the filmmaker’s experience and is more assured and polished as it scrutinises the thornier issues of this tight knit community, while also capturing this way of life with non-judgemental authenticity.

Reviewed on: 20 Sep 2026