In the works: Emmi Parviainen, Laura Birn and Paula Vesala star in the comedy ‘Games People Play’

Written and directed by Jenni Toivoniemi, GAMES PEOPLE PLAY is a comedy about friendship, love and the end of adolescence. The film stars Emmi Parviainen, Laura Birn, Samuli Niittymäki, Eero Milonoff, Christian Hillborg, Iida-Maria Heinonen, Paula Vesala and Paavo Kinnunen. Games People Play is currently being shot and is scheduled to premier in 2020.

A group of friends get together for a nostalgic weekend in a seaside villa to celebrate Mitzi’s (Emmi Parviainen) birthday. What the others don’t know is that Mitzi is in the midst of a breakup and she is not excited about the surprise party. The tension builds up even more when Mitzi’s best friend Veronika (Laura Birn) arrives with her new boyfriend, who happens to be a Swedish Hollywood star. Mitzi’s personal crisis drives her to kick off a game that suddenly brings up the old power dynamics and relationships of the group. In the end, the desperate role players don’t know anymore who was in love with whom and who they should share their beds with.

Games People Play is writer-director Jenni Toivoniemi’s first feature film: “Games People Play is based on my observations in the priviledge and burden that belonging in a group creates, especially when it comes to a close-knit group of friends that have known each other for a long time. It is like a family both in good and in bad. Actually it is even more than that, because we believe that one can choose their friends.”

Toivoniemi is fascinated by eternal youth and yearning for nostalgia. “People’s tendency to long for nostalgia and regression in my generation interests me – as does the concept of everlasting youth that many of us seem to be living. This reluctance to grow up is often frowned upon, but I personally have warm feelings towards the idea. At some point, most of us come to the realisation that there is no adulthood, you just learn to fake it. Refusing this agreement could also be seen as bravery.”

Additional information: Tuffi Films, producer Venla Hellstedt, 040 930 9905, venla@tuffifilms.com

Nordisk Film, publicist Katja Viitalähde-Annala, 050 3956084, katja.viitalahde@nordiskfilm.com