Feature Film, 2026 ● 90 min

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There are no animals left.

In a near future where nature has been replaced by an artificial world, Pasi has embraced a life of control and distance—until he encounters a squirrel that refuses to leave him alone.

When hygiene inspector Emilia begins investigating mysterious animal tracks, her search leads her to Pasi. Instead of exposing him, she finds herself drawn into his strange world. As the impossible animal slowly erodes the distance between them, the two become increasingly entangled with the squirrel—and with each other.

Part love story, part near-future fable, The Squirrel explores what happens when the lives we’ve carefully built no longer feel true.

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Main Cast
Miro Lopperi (Pasi), Mimosa Willamo (Emilia), H-P Björkman (Jimi), Pirjo Heikkilä (Ava), Ella Mettänen (Sofia), Eero Ritala (Tony), Pirjo Lonka (Vera), Roderick Kabanga (Laine)

Director, screenwriter
Markus Lehmusruusu

Director of Photography
Max Smeds F.S.C

Production Designer
Michael Randel

Edited By
Florian Miosge

Music by
Freya Arde

Costume Designer
Teresa Grosser

Hair & Make-up Designer
Pur Thijs

Sound designer
Ranko Paukovic

Produced by
Mark Lwoff & Misha Jaari / Bufo (FI)

Co-produced by
Thanassis Karathanos & Martin Hampel / Pallas Film (GER), Denis Vaslin & Fleur Knopperts / Volya Films (NL), Ronny Fritsch & Lizette Jonjic / Zentropa Sweden (SWE).

Financed by
Finnish Film Foundation, Yle, Fireframe Studios, Gotlands Filmfond, German Federal Film Fund, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Netherlands Film Fund, Svenska Kulturfonden, Konstsamfundet, Netherlands Film Production Incentive, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg

Developed in TorinoScriptLab 2018 & ACE 29

Presented at Göteborg Film Festival, New Nordic Films Haugesund and Finnish Film Affair