For Boys

Confined to his apartment during a lockdown, Mikael is seriously ill and living out what may be his final days. Craving contact and acceptance, he uses a fake online profile to lure young men to his door. Then Paul arrives. Instead of the transaction Mikael expects, Paul offers unexpected warmth, and the encounter opens a surreal passage into desire, vulnerability, and the fear of being truly seen. Written and directed by Finnish filmmaker Nils-Erik Ekblom and starring Mika Melender, Janne Puustinen, and Valtteri Lehtinen, this Finnish drama bends the chamber piece into something dreamlike, using the isolation of the pandemic era to strip two men down to their most honest selves. It is a tender and unsettling story about the ways loneliness distorts intimacy, and what it costs to let someone in.