"Brace Your Heart" Review: Kernell's Sámi Herder Drama — SkimNews
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- Amanda Kernell's third feature "Brace Your Heart" follows Ejva, a 20-year-old Sámi woman who inherits her father's reindeer-herding business after his untimely death — Kernell's third film spotlighting the indigenous Sámi community after "Sámi Blood" (2016) and "Charter" (2020)
- Elli Sara Valkeapää, a real-life Sámi reindeer herder making her acting debut, stars as Ejva in an emotionally demanding role the review says she handles with "impressive subtlety and stoicism"
- The film premiered in Toronto's Oscar-qualifying Platform program, where it received a special jury mention, before its European debut in San Sebastián's main competition — a festival one-two the source says indicates fairly broad arthouse appeal
- The screenplay frames Ejva's female agency inside a love triangle between jockish herder Heaika (Andte Gaup-Juuso) and his gentler cousin Nejla (Vincent Niia), which the review says expands into a study of "contrasting schools of Sámi masculinity" once Heaika's behavior turns toxic
- Shot by DP Sophia Olsson in the Sápmi region with a largely non-professional cast, the film balances a quasi-documentary realism with the ethereal a cappella score by Rebekka Karijord and Kristian Eidnes Andersen
- The film strips Sámi herding life of any "fairytale essence," depicting grueling physical and economic demands including a setpiece where Ejva's snowmobile plunges through thin ice into freezing waters
Why it matters: Kernell's third feature lands with the Toronto–San Sebastián festival pedigree that previously helped "Sámi Blood" and "Charter" achieve solid international distribution, and the source explicitly flags specialist streaming as the most likely conduit to the youthful audience the film is built for.
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