The third film in Kaurismäki's Proletariat Trilogy is the darkest and most overtly political, focusing on the transactional nature of relationships and the damage they can cause. Iris (Kati Outinen) is a young woman oppressed on all sides: living at home with her ungrateful mother and stepfather, who pocket the meagre pay she makes toiling away at the match factory and treat her like a servant. Her only escape is at the music halls she haunts, ignored by most people until one night a nice-enough-seeming man takes an interest and takes her home. When he reveals his true colours it sets Iris on a path to address the wrongs done to her by the world.

He wanted to “make a film that would make Robert Bresson seem like a director of epic action pictures”, and through simple, stark imagery and darkly humorous domestic set pieces Kaurismäki has crafted a deft dissection of the material conditions that grind down ordinary people. The previous films in this trilogy have been ensemble pieces but this one narrows its gaze to a single figure with minimal dialogue. Kati Outinen's inscrutable face and ability to transmit oceans of meaning from a heavy shrug of the shoulders encapsulates the moribund Finns of Kaurismäki's world, telling their stories through glances and posture, movement and silence.