The Sami people contain multitudes, Amanda Kernell’s Brace Your Heart showing a more traditional side of that Indigenous community. The characters in this film are reindeer herders, Ejva (Elli-Sara Valkeapää), a daughter of a reindeer herder. That ‘in’ is Heaika (Andte Gaup-Juuso), who, after sleeping with her, promises that the community will vote for her. Complicating their relationship is his cousin Nejla, whom Ejva grows feelings for despite her public relationship with Heaika. Heaika notices that they’re sneaking out a lot, even in front of him, and in retaliation, he sexually assaults her. The experience is so traumatic that she develops a hand tremor that heals when she leaves the herding community.
Kernell has done the festival circuit for now, and part of me wishes that I followed her career more closely. What the film is showing, though, falls within the conventional tropes and characters who are clearly good or bad. And I apologize if I’m being coy about this so I’ll be more specific here – Heaika sexually assaulting Ejva. Yes, I do have personal reasons about why I didn’t like that storyline but there are professional reasons, I swear. Brace Your Heart making that choice takes away from what are otherwise complex characters who don’t make good decisions. There’s something refreshing about the messiness of that first half, starting from Ejva’s father dying, leaving her unmoored. In fairness to this film, I do like a protagonist who stands up for herself.
- Rated: Unrated
- Genre: Drama, Romance
- Release Date: 9/15/2026
- Directed by: Amanda Kernell
- Starring: Andte Gaup-Juuso, Elli-Sara Valkeapää
- Produced by: Eva Åkergren
- Written by: Amanda Kernell
- Studio: Invictus, Svenska Filminstitutet
