One Foot Under

One Foot Under

Year: 2009

Runtime: 101 mins

Language: Finnish

Director: Johanna Vuoksenmaa

DramaComedy

Visa Vuorio, a 35‑year‑old team leader in Helsinki’s city gardening department, has been diagnosed with a terminal neurological disease and given only months to live. He attends a therapeutic support group for those facing terminal illness. His routine is upended when young reporter Hanna Manninen joins the group, proposing to chronicle his story in a series of articles, prompting Visa to confront his remaining time.

Warning: spoilers below!

Haven’t seen One Foot Under yet? This summary contains major spoilers. Bookmark the page, watch the movie, and come back for the full breakdown. If you're ready, scroll on and relive the story!

Timeline & Setting – One Foot Under (2009)

Explore the full timeline and setting of One Foot Under (2009). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Helsinki, Copenhagen, Porvoo

Helsinki provides the urban Finnish backdrop where Visa works and the support group scenes unfold. Copenhagen serves as a romantic turn in the story, where Visa and Hanna's feelings first blossom. Porvoo appears in a pivotal moment, underscoring social rituals like weddings and confrontations. Together, these places anchor the film's rhythm of daily life, romance, and personal crisis.

🏙️ Helsinki 🗺️ Copenhagen 🏡 Porvoo

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:15

Main Characters – One Foot Under (2009)

Meet the key characters of One Foot Under (2009), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Visa Vuorio (Tobias Zilliacus)

Visa is a 35-year-old team leader at the Helsinki city gardening department who learns he has a terminal neurological disease. A mix-up reveals he is actually healthy, but he hides this to maintain the narrative around his life and to keep Hanna and Riia from being shocked. He is driven by a need for connection and a fear of losing meaning, which leads him to manipulate how his story is told. His secret keeps him investing in the relationships that matter most, even as it endangers them.

💼 🧭 ❤️

Hanna Manninen (Helena Vierikko)

Hanna is a young reporter who arrives at Visa's support group to write a feature and ends up forming a complicated romance with him. She blends professional curiosity with genuine empathy, navigating the line between documenting a life story and living one of her own. Her feelings are tested by Visa's confession and the evolving dynamic between love, truth, and manipulation. She seeks authenticity even as she is pulled into a public narrative.

📝 💖 🕊️

Riia (Susanna Anteroinen)

Riia is Visa's girlfriend and a stabilizing presence who believes in supporting him through fear and uncertainty. She becomes entangled in the consequences of Visa's deception as she tries to understand the truth behind his stories. Her loyalty is tested when secrets surface, forcing her to renegotiate trust and commitment. She embodies the personal stakes of choosing honesty within a fragile relationship.

💑 🧩 🕊️

Harri (Jarkko Pajunen)

Harri is Visa's best friend, loyal but conflicted, and secretly in love with Riia. He knows about Visa's deception and becomes a conflicted ally who must decide how far to go to protect those he cares about. His own unspoken feelings add tension to the circle of friends as the truth looms. He represents the cost of hidden affection and the struggle between honesty and comfort.

💬 🧭 💔

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:15

Major Themes – One Foot Under (2009)

Explore the central themes of One Foot Under (2009), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💔 Romance

Visa and Hanna's bond develops during their journey to Copenhagen, offering a fragile beacon of hope amid looming illness. Their interactions are braided with unspoken feelings and the desire for genuine connection. The posturing of illness and the fear of vulnerability add tension to their budding romance. The film uses their relationship to explore how love can bloom under extraordinary circumstances, even when the truth remains partly hidden.

🤫 Truth

Deception becomes the engine of the plot after a hospital mix-up reveals Visa is healthy. He decides not to tell Hanna or Riia to preserve the experience of being cared for as someone fragile. The moment of truth arrives in staged moments—a hospital escape, a wedding confrontation—forcing choices between honesty and protection. The theme probes the ethics of truth-telling and its consequences on trust and relationships.

🎭 Facade

Appearances mask deeper realities as Visa plays the role of a gravely ill man to sustain the narrative of his life. The support group and public attention turn identity into performance, with friends and lovers reacting to the story projected onto him. As the truth surfaces, characters confront what they want to believe versus what is true. The film uses this facade to question how much of a life is crafted for others and how much is sincerely felt.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:15

Mobile App Preview

Coming soon on iOS and Android

The Plot Explained Mobile App

From blockbusters to hidden gems — dive into movie stories anytime, anywhere. Save your favorites, discover plots faster, and never miss a twist again.

Sign up to be the first to know when we launch. Your email stays private — always.

Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Bittersweet Romances Shadowed by Mortality like in One Foot Under

Romantic connections that blossom under the dark cloud of a terminal illness.If you liked the emotional mix of love and impending tragedy in One Foot Under, explore these movies where romance is intensified by a terminal diagnosis. These similar stories capture the bittersweet beauty of finding connection when time is short.

bittersweetromanticmelancholictenderemotionalsadhopefulreflective

Narrative Summary

The narrative often follows a character who receives a life-limiting diagnosis, which becomes the catalyst for a new, profound romantic relationship. The story unfolds with a steady pace, focusing on the emotional journey of embracing love while grappling with mortality, typically leading to a bittersweet conclusion that offers both romantic fulfillment and the pain of loss.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared core of a romance intimately tied to a terminal illness, creating a specific, poignant mood. They share a bittersweet tone, medium emotional weight, and a focus on the emotional authenticity found in life's final chapters.

Movies about Life-Altering Lies like in One Foot Under

Stories where a single deception spirals into a new, complicated reality.Fans of One Foot Under's plot about a man living a lie will appreciate these movies with similar themes of deception and secret identities. Discover other films where a fabricated reality forces characters to confront difficult truths about themselves.

reflectiveemotionaldeceptiveidentity crisismelancholicdramatictensesad

Narrative Summary

The plot is driven by a protagonist who, whether by choice or circumstance, adopts a false identity or tells a major lie that fundamentally alters their path. The narrative follows the unfolding consequences of this deception, creating internal conflict and external tension as the character navigates the web they've woven, typically culminating in a crisis of truth.

Why These Movies?

These films are connected by the powerful narrative engine of a central deception. They share a focus on themes of identity, authenticity, and the psychological burden of secrets, often resulting in a reflective, emotionally weighted tone and straightforward, character-centric storytelling.

Unlock the Full Story of One Foot Under

Don't stop at just watching — explore One Foot Under in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what One Foot Under is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

One Foot Under Summary

Read a complete plot summary of One Foot Under, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

One Foot Under Summary

One Foot Under Timeline

Track the full timeline of One Foot Under with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

One Foot Under Timeline

One Foot Under Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of One Foot Under that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

One Foot Under Spoiler-Free Summary

More About One Foot Under

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about One Foot Under: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About One Foot Under

Similar Movies to One Foot Under

Discover movies like One Foot Under that share similar genres, themes, and storytelling elements. Whether you’re drawn to the atmosphere, character arcs, or plot structure, these curated recommendations will help you explore more films you’ll love.