Review: Maria’s Paradise

She follows her breakout The Good Son and 2017’s Miami – which saw a timid young woman reunite with her exotic-dancer sister, as one bloody well should — with the solid period drama Maria’s Paradise , shown in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the festival. Maria’s Paradise, which one could reasonably expect to be built around the kind of multifaceted performance most actors would die for, doesn’t really explain Åkerblom’s phenomenon at all. She is wary of “Jesus freaks,” but happy to play the part, especially if it comes with a full board. Produced by Daniel Kuitunen, Evelin Penttilä, Kaisla Viitala for Elokuvayhtiö Komeetta Oy and Stellar Film, Maria’s Paradise was made with the support from the Finnish Film Foundation, Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Estonian Film Institute. Additional partners are YLE, Finnish Church Media Foundation, Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture and Film Estonia.